Dreams of a Rogue Rover
by CyberTheWolf
Summary: Shepherd has some skeletons in his closet, and a rogue wolf may be the only chance at exposing them. Terrible things have happened, and now that they have, Blitz may finally be able to get what he has yearned for ever so long. CHAPTER 17 UP!
1. The Tragedy

"Fine!" Colleen yelled. It was a quiet, relaxing night in headquarters, until now. Blitz, Colleen, and Exile were the only ones there at the time. Exile who had been in the main lobby at the time, didn't hear anything of the upcomming mishaps that would take place right under his nose. Blitz had been pestering Colleen for the past half hour after sending Exile off to check a 'noise' he heard. Being the nice guy he is, Exile really didn't have a choice in what decision he'd make and trailed off alone. Mistake number one, and even he should've seen it.

Colleen grabbed Blitz's head and pulled him in, giving him a kiss. "There. Now will you leave me alone?" she asked him, her eyes losing their heat. Blitz stayed quiet for once. He couldn't think of a wise crack to make at her, or anything. He was drawing a blank, and the only thing he wanted was more. Colleen flipped her hair back behind her shoulders and continued to scribble words onto the paper infront of her. She gave him a glance from the corner of her eye when she noticed that five minutes later, he still hadn't stopped staring at nothing. "Never been kissed by a woman before, eh bloak?" she asked him with a slight sneer.

Still nothing. He could think words, just not say them. Like, for example, what he wanted to say was, 'That was amazing.' but instead, his brain made his mouth say somthing else that went a little rougher than the other would've. "I've had better." he said. 'Dammit!' he thought to himself. It was definately rougher than the other would've been, seeing as the next thing he remembered was a fist in his face and then the cold feeling of the floor against his face, it could have gone better. But this wasn't the first time his words had turned to mush in his skull before talking to her. As a matter of fact, this was routine now. He watched from the floor as she stormed out of the room.

Exile sighed as he returned to the room to find Blitz on the ground, this too had become routine. "When you work up common sense to take advice and NOT be weird boy I have sympathy for you, until then..." he said, getting Blitz off the ground. "I mother you like child." he hadn't smiled like usual this time, seeing as he had known that it was a hoax this time. The ground between Exile and Blitz was brewing for battle. As it was the same thing every day! Blitz would try to make his move and Exile would get stuck cleaning up the mess. Frankly, he was tired of it.

"You know, if you keep this up..." Exile began, "I going to have to tell Hunter." Blitz narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. If he ever even tried to ruin what little chance he had to steal her away from Hunter, there would be blood. Exile shook his head, leaning in the doorway of the room, "Too bad he is on mission for one dog only. Will not be back until tomorrow..." he then darted his attention to Blitz. "Until then, no more funny business. I going to bed..." he tunred around. "I serious about this Blitz." he said, nodding as he left down the dark hall.

Blitz scowled from under his puffed up lips. Who did he think he was? Apparantly he thought he was an equal challenge, preposterous. "Take him down with one paw tied behind my back..." Blitz said in a whisper, turning around and wiping the blood from his muzzle with the back of his hand. He rubbed his tongue across the fronts of his sharp teeth, cutting himself slightly and making more blood spill out. It wasn't much though, not anything he couldn't handle. He walked down a dark hall opposite of the one Exile had exited into. His steps echoed in the black, his ears pinned back and a feirce smile escaping his lips. He turned into a room and flipped the lights on, looking at his face in the mirror. Nothing too bad, a little scratch here and there was all the damage there was, aside from the big lips. He gently ran over them with a finger and the then wiggled them somewhat. "I'dve given her one right back if..." he couldn't bring himself to say it. Those words, like daggers comming out of his throat. He thought them to himself as he wet a towel, 'If I didn't love her so much.'

He wiped it across his face, the cold moist feeling enveloping his skin. It felt great, especially against his lips. He looked down at it, blood was running down it. No big deal. He cleaned himself up and threw it back into the sink, checking his teeth once more in the mirror before heading off down the hall. A ring was then heard over the intercom. "Rovers..." Master began. "Get...get down to the main hall." his voice sounded jittery, scared. Blitz turned aroud and gave a slight look behind him as to debate just going to bed, but his curiosity kept him going.

When he arrived, there was a grim expression on the man's face. Something was wrong. He wavered over next to Exile and waited for the news.

"Sorry to wake you like that, but I felt it easier to let you know without a restless night in having not done so." he began. This was bad. Blitz knew it deep down, something was telling him that no one here would feel the same after he got this off his chest. He saw Master talking, but didn't hear anything. He was too busy looking at her, damn! What if it was important? What if it would decide the fate of this place? Whatever it was, he missed it. All he got afterwords was Colleen's reaction. Her lips began to quiver and tears soon followed as Exile walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. Blitz had an idea of what had happened, but couldn't keep his tail from wagging in thought of it. Hunter was dead.


	2. A Thousand Dried Tears

TWO MONTHS LATER

Sounds of furious fists hitting a punching bag echoed throughout the base. In the short time since Hunter's death, the entire function went down the drain, losing all funds and having to abandon the place, the remaining rovers, Exile, Colleen, and Blitz would have to make life possible for themselves in a normal society. All of this because of one faulty mission. No one would hire them, not even the desperate. That's how Shag bit it. Just one simple mistake was all it took, making a bomb go off a few seconds early, Colleens doing. It was only a few days after his passing, she was still in a deep depression.

Blitz landed his foot directly in the center of the target placed on the bag, smiling and wiping his face with a wet towel. Regret was a word he had often thought of now, for two reasons. Reason number one, before shutting down, Master had offered them all to revert to their normal feral selves, making life easier for them in the long run, they all turned it down. Reason number two, Colleen got away. He thought of her every day, there honestly wasn't one day where he had gone without thinking of what could have been. Wiping a slight drop of water from his face he walked over to the mirror of his small room. He looked at himself for a second, white tank-top, camoflauged pants, combat boots. Life in the army wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Especially if you were sheltered in the cold heart of the facillity at all times, that is unless you were needed for a special mission. That didn't happen very often. They had to be subtle about it, seeing as the world thought they were dead.

His attention shifted to the pictures that lined the mirror, shots of he and Colleen. For some reason he had kept them, even though he knew he would most likely never see her again. Still, she had become a part of him, in some sorta creepy stalker sort of way. "Dammit." he said to himself, shaking his head. "Forget her. Forget everything about that." He knew he couldn't. He knew damn well, his heart wouldn't let him forget.

He slumped over the sink below the mirror, letting the rag flop into the tub with a wet slap. He rubbed his eyes, groaning slightly. "Wonder where you are now." he sighed, turning around. He gazed around his room, more of a cell. It reminded him of those rooms you saw all of those crazy people in, white roioms in insane asylums. The only real difference was that he wasn't in a strait jacket.

He rolled his neck, walking over to his bed and slumping onto it, his impact moving the sheets from their fitted mannerisms and distancing them from the edges of the floor below. He stared for hours on end at the ceiling above him, a plain white that seemed to allow him to think better. He liked to think so. He crossed his arms beneath his head and smiled somewhat, playing images on the ceiling. It was like a movie screen, to where anything he wanted to project up there magically did.

He didn't mean to seem sentimental, but there was something about today. He couldn't describe it. It was just a good feeling. There she was, in his little movie, sitting with him on a ledge as they watched over a sunset. He smiled contently as he felt the suns warmth and gazed into her eyes, her head resting on his chest as they held hands. The sea below them reflected the light, allowing it to dance upon their faces in this blissful moment. It felt real, but it all came crashing to an end when he opened his eyes.

A knock at his door seemed to shatter the image like a plate of glass, letting all of the beautiful colors in the scene disperse upon the floor. His eyes traveled quickly to the opening door. It opened with a large creaky moan, revealing a man in a colonels uniform. "Yes?" Blitz asked the man, sitting up on his bed.

"You have a visitor." the man said, his age well apparent in his voice.

"Thanks?" he said, flinging himself off of the bed and onto the floor.

The colonel pointed in the direction of a long hall that lead upstairs to a large hangar which was shining down into the hall with sunlight. "She's waiting for you up there." he said, escorting him along the steel plated floors of the facility.

"She?" Blitz asked himself aloud.

The colonel grunted in approval, "Yeah, she's something like you are."  
"A millitary recruit? Secret weapon?"  
"She's an animal."  
Blitz's eyes opened wide, could it be? After what seemed like a lifetime had she possibly come back to see him? And if so, how? He was deep under cover, it was nearly impossible to trace him. He paced his steps, the tempo of his movements speeding up slightly with every passing second. Then he stopped, looking at the floor and grinding his teeth. What would he say?

"Something wrong?" the colonel asked him, turning around. Blitz shook his head, looking forward. Almost there. The walk had seemed like an hour long by now and he was eager to see the sun. The path opened up into a large room with a large assortment of aircraft models in every direction. The large door to the room was opened, almost like a garage door. He looked around, but didn't see anyone. "She's in the office."

Blitz nodded to the man, smiling and walking off in the direction of the office, looking at all of the plane's as he passed by them, their elegance shimmering in their waxed bodies, he adjusted his figure in the reflection. "Good as I'm getting." he sighed, looking dead on at the office. "Now or never."

He walked over slowly, grasping the door handle and slowly turning it, afraid of what lay behind it. The door swung open and there was standing in the other direction Colleen. She was wearing a green dress, something Blitz didn't recall her doing much. It ran down to her calves and was held up by two flimsy little straps. She turned around, hearing the door, her hair flowing in a twist as she did. She smiled, happy to see her friend and rushed over to him, grasping him into a warm embrace. "It's been much too long love!"  
Blitz stared at the back wall, was this real? It felt different, as opposed to what he had felt for the past few months when he had immagined this, there was warmth, he could feel her heart beat against him, her chest heaving in and out as she breathed. She was real. "Colleen?" Blitz asked, grabing onto her. "This is real, right?" His voice was shaky, nervous and scattered, words he once found hard to find had again gone into hiding from his mind.

"Mmhmm." she moaned, nuzzling his figure.

"I missed you." he said with a slight chuckle to break the ice.

"I missed you much more." she said, pulling off and looking at him. He melted. "Life's been quite dull without you, mind you."  
Blitz smiled warmly at her, finding his words. "Same here." He then felt her hands in his, they were animated, alive, real, warm. They stared on at each other, thoughts racing through their minds like rapids in a river after a heavy storm. There were so many thing that he wanted to ask her, and she to him.

"Do you...want to head out?" she asked him. He nodded back, he had gotten his wish. Colleen was back.


	3. Rewrite

Walking back from one of the many stands that lined the city streets around the bay area, Blitz returned to Colleen with some ice-cream. She was sitting up on a small building that separated the beach from the streets, her feet dangling in the air, slowly moving back and forth as she swayed them. He paused, taking her figure in for a moment, still trying to get it through his head that this was real, not a dream. She looked over at him, seemingly in slow motion, but she was at normal pace. It was Blitz who had slowed down.

She tilted her head, "You alright there?" she asked him, curious. Blitz blushed, hurrying over to her. He sat down, handing her the cone and immediately directing his attention towards the ocean. Colleen looked at him for a split second in thought, then looked on at the splashing waves. In and out, repetitive. The gulls chiped as the melodic sound filled the area that was now dimming down due to the setting sun. She looked at Blitz again, he wasn't the same. He was more mature, stiff, cold. What had they done to him in there? She contemplated for a moment, then worked up a question to break the annoying silence that enshrouded them. "Blitz?" she asked him, his attention turning to her in mid-lick. She giggled somewhat, but then re-gained her composure. "Do you...ever think about returning home?" she asked, looking up at the gulls passing overhead.

He swallowed. "I guess so..." he said, looking up also.

"Good." She said with a sigh. "I'd like that."

"Lonely?"

"Sort of."

"Should've figured, with you resorting to asking me to accompany you and all." Blitz said with a slight laugh, but it quickly faded back into his cold, dead emotions. Not all of them were dead, there were a few still undamaged.

"It's not like that..." Colleen said, blushing slightly as she watched her feet sway back and forth below her. "It's just that, I'm a lady now..." she said, looking over at him. "And a lady should always be accompanied by a gentleman back home, right? And well, you are a gentleman now, aren't you?" Blitz's ears lowered in embarassment.

"Well, if you wanna put it like that..." he said, his sentence left unfinished.

"Then you'll go back to New York with me?" she asked him, a spark of hope gleaming in her eyes. The truth is she had always left a little something there for Blitz. Something that, over that period of time they re-constructed their lives, grew stronger. She didn't want to seem like she was pushing anything on him. "You don't have to if you don't want to though."

Blitz smiled, "I'd be happy to go." he said to her, their eyes connecting in a tractor-beam-like pull. It lasted too long, well at least in Colleen's opinion. She felt like she was coming off too strong. She would have to re-spark his hope in life. She could tell he had seen horrible things, his face showed it. It had aged slightly. Blitz, however, was overjoyed, but barely showed any emotion. He had to be that way now.

"Good thing too." Colleen said with a sigh as she stepped off of the wall. "Otherwise this other plane ticket was a waste of money." she said, stepping back from him with an explosion of laughter. Blitz raised a brow until he caught on, joining in her laugh. "You're laughing..." Colleen said, recovering from her stomach pains. She let a few extra giggles down to settle herself. He smiled as she sat down next to him again, this time a little closer.

"W-well, we should probably be going then, right?" he said with a nervous cough. She looked back at him, taking his hand and getting to her feet again, pulling him off of the wall with her. He stumbled slightly as she pulled him over to the streets.

"Our plane leaves in about an hour." she said, walking with him along the sidewalk. Blitz gave a slight smile, being dragged along with her. He liked how she handled him.

"You already had this planned out before you got here, didn't you?" he asked her, the two of them stopping at a light that had just turned red. She nodded with a large grin. He smiled back at her, looking at all of the cars that were lined up next to them at the street's corner. "You always did think ahead." he said. Colleen nodded, hearing a car speed down the road and stepping out into the street, assuming the light had changed. She let go of Blitz's hand and blindly took a few steps. His hears went up, a driver had gone through the light and was tearing down the street. He quickly grabbed for her arm, pulling her in just as it passed. "Are you crazy? You could have been-" he stopped, realizing that they were close again. There was no space left between the two of them, their muzzles nearly touching, just an eyelash's thickness apart. They locked eyes again, making their hearts beat faster. The light turned green. The sound of the cars bustling by snapped them from their daze and they separated, Blitz rubbing the back of his neck warily. "You sure you still need a gentleman?" he asked her, a sly smile appearing on his face. She smiled back, her eyes gleaming. She nodded up at him, embracing him again.

"It's good to be around you again...Blitz."


	4. A Home for the Hopeless

Plane flights are never comfortable, and neither are the rides home to places you haven't been to in what seemed like years. He had never actually been to her place. It was an apartment, a nice one. White, blinding white, with the occasional colorful painting on it's awkwardly slanted walls. Instead of being regualr flat ceilings, there were multiple slants in it. Unique, more than awkward really. When you walked in, there was a large window directly infront of you, the size of which could most likely fit an elephant through it. To the left there was a small wall, two feet from that, a small loveseat. The loveseat was faced toward the fireplace, which had next to it, a television, small but usable, a door leading to another room to it's left. To the right of the entrance, there was an open-countered bar, which, ontop of it, there were cupboards. Behind that, there was the kitchen, which was a simple table with three chairs a refridgerator, and a sink.

"Set your stuff wherever you like." Colleen said, thrusting past Blitz and heading over to the other room. "I'm just going to go and change, be right back." she said, closing the door quietly behind her. He stopped for a moment, looking around at the place, then striding over to the counter of the bar. Fancy.

"Wonder what she does for a living." he said in no less than a whisper. He turned, looking at the fireplace, it was the only thing besides the bar, that wasn't white. A light brown rock framed it away from everything else, and a long brick shaft crept up from it's top. How they were able to have fireplaces in an apartment building was a wonder. But it seemed they had things worked out well enought for everything to operate correctly.

He wandered about slowly for a moment, thinking it rude to sit down. Aside from that, he had just been sitting down for six hours straight, so he really wasn't apt to the whole idea of sitting just yet. "Can't believe I'm here." he said, glancing around one last time before Colleen appeared again. She was now in a pale yellow hooded jacket, it's strings dangling down across the illegible cursive pink lettering that lined her chest. On her legs she now wore a pair of knee-torn jeans with black and white sneakers to accompany them.

"So, welcome to 'Casa de Colleen'." she laughed. Blitz smiled back at her warmly. He liked that, 'Casa de Colleen'. Her laugh warmed up to a calm smile. "Sorry, that was me trying to make a joke." she said smoothly, making her way over to Blitz. "We have a lot to talk about." she said, grabbing his hand and leading him over to the glass window. The building in which they were housed was built in a square shape. The apartments themselves meaking up the square, and leaving the middle section empty. However, it wasn't empty. It was filled with flowers, trees, and walkways. It was like a miniature park within the complex. It bloomed with delight, as if nothing could hold it back from the nature that took place within itself.

"It's nice." Blitz said, staring into the vast pool of colors. Colleen looked up at him as his attention remained focused on the vegetation. She wanted answers, she wanted him to live again. But she wasn't sure how to bring him around. That was her problem, all she wanted was to have somebody around again, like it used to be. She looked into his eyes, they were losing their color.

"Blitz." she said quietly, catching his attention. "Can you tell me something?" she asked as she led him over to the loveseat, sitting down and gripping his hand tightly. He remained standing, not sure of the question that was about to be thrown at him.

He nodded, "I suppose." he said, sitting down with her. He looked at her face, it was showing signs of sadness, an angelic sense of sadness, to where you could tell that she was clearly upset, but beautiful at the same time. He looked into her eyes as they revealed themselves from beneath her intoxicating eyelashes.

"What did they do to you?"

"What?"

"Those men, in the army. You're not the same." She said, looking up at him in distress. He hesitated, standing up again and walking over near the window, pinching the area between his nose and eyes as he drew in a heavy sigh. Shaking his head, he turned around to face her.

"Why?" he asked roughly. He didn't want to come across as mean, just assertive.

"Curiosity, I suppose." she said slowly, bowing her head. He gave a weak smile and stepped back over, taking her hand so she would look at him.

"You really want to know?" he asked, her body loosening up as she began to get up. He stopped her, leaning down in near her face. "They kept me away from you." he said quietly. Colleen's eyes glinted as she blinked for a second. She looked dead on into his eyes.

"Blitz..." she said calmly, leading him in next to her on the couch again. "I'm not-"

"Not ready yet." he said, finishing her sentence. She nodded, lowering her head again as a tear rolled down her cheek. He closed his eyes, putting a hand beneath her chin and holding her head up to face him. "Don't cry." he said softly, his words like velvet. "You're too pretty to cry." he said in the same tone, wiping away her tear with his tumb. More tears rolled down her face as she clutched him tightly, throwing herself at him and burying herself in his chest.

"It's just been so hard!" she cried out, muffled by his figure. Shocked, he put his arms around her, holding her closer and running his hand through her hair, rocking her back and forth slowly.

"I know, I know." he said softly still, even with word of Hunter approaching. Her breaths became scattered as he held her. She said nothing however, there wasn't really room for words here. "He meant a lot to you."

She nodded against him, rubbing her cheek against his body. "I'm just so confused right now, Blitz." she said, "I've been having these dreams."

"Dreams?"

"Dreams where I see you and I together." He froze. "And we're hunted by him." He rubbed her back assuringly.

"It's okay, they're just dreams, okay?"

"I've begged and pleaded, but they won't tell me anything! I should at least know how he died, didn't you find that suspicious? They never told us a damn thing about what happened, just that-"

"Colleen." Blitz said, looking down at her. "Sweetheart, Hunter's gone." She closed her eyes in disbelief. "It gets to me too, it's just that-"

"He got in your way." she said, looking up at him again.

Blitz stopped, sighing and grabbing her hands. "Is that what you think?" he asked, "It wasn't like that. All I wanted was you, and that's all I've ever wanted." Colleen blushed, wiping away tears on her shoulders. He looked over at the window, evening had fallen. "You, um, should probably get some sleep. It's been a long day." he said, stepping off of the couch and offering her a hand. She smiled, grabbing his hand and allowing him to pull her up.

"Blitz, I'm sorry if I seem indecisive at times." she said worried. "Just know that I'm glad to have you here. With me." she said, letting go of his hand and giving him a small peck on his cheek. He blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. She wiggled her fingers goodbye as she left to her room, slowly closing the door. "The couch isn't that bad to sleep on." she whispered. Blitz smiled, sitting down on the couch. He then turned and looked over to see the lightswitch, flicking it off. He layed down on the couch, his legs hanging off of the arm, his arms behind his head as support to stare at the ceiling. He smiled somberly, his dreams, they were slowly becoming reality. He was with her, and he wasn't bleeding. It's what he always wanted.

He slowly closed his eyes, beginning to drift into sleep as he replayed that scene over and over again, with she and him together. She had dreams of them? Together? But what was with Hunter? True, they never did give an exact reason, but why would Master have lied to them? He shook off the questions. He was home. A place he could call home for once. Just at the edge of sleep, her voice returned.

"Here." she said quietly, laying a soft blanket ontop of him. "It can get kinda cold out here in New York." She smiled softly, walking back over to her room.

"Safe dreams." Blitz spoke out, closing his eyes.

"Safe dreams." Colleen repeated, closing the door behind her as she retired to her room.


	5. The New Moon

"We cannot evade them. We cannot escape them. We can only enjoy life before they arrive, and afterwards we are without fear of their return." For some reason those were the last words documented by Professor Shepherd.

A single being wearing a heavy winter coat of a brown color sat at a desk in a large library, a small light dangling above his head as he read through books in the surrounding shadows. What did these words mean? How did he disappear? Ever since the closing of the headquarters, Exile had been searching for answers. His fur was a mess now, his eyes bloodshot and a slight amount of dirt covering his fatigued face.

He shifted in the small wooden chair, the sound of it's legs squeaking against the wooden floor it was placed upon. Rubbing his face slowly, he averted his eyes from the text of the papers he was reading. While the others had moved on with their lives, Exile was stuck on the past. Having moved back to the Motherland to access the largest library of official documents that was known amongst the service. This place, he was sure, had the answers.

So far, there was nothing. No tracks, no evidence, nothing. Shepherd hadn't been officially pronounced dead according to the documents, but to the public he had been six feet under for quite some time. "Where did you go?" Exile asked himself, looking back down at the papers, a photo of Shepherd's face on one of the sheets. The sound of a door creaking alerted him, his ears perking up in attendance.

"Nothing." a male's voice echoed from the floor below. Nervous, Exile grabbed a hold of the pistol on the table, cocking it and bringing it to a ready position as he turned off the light. "All of the leads have gotten me nowhere." the voice said with a sigh. "Who's to say there's supposed to be a new Fate anyhow?" he asked himself, walking in deeper, the door closing behind him and leaving him in darkness. "Rori, you here?" he asked, his voice carrying a new sense of hope. There was no answer.

"Damn cat." he sighed, walking back to the file cabinets lining the back wall. From his belt he took a small flashlight and illuminated the letters on the doors. "New Moon...New Moon..." he recited to himself, flashing the light across the letters again. "Gotcha." he said to himself, a sleek smirk clearly showing on his face.

From what Exile could make of this being, it was a wolf. Someone like him who had the figure of a human, but certain features of an animal. His fur was a lighter shade of gray and his torso covered by a white t-shirt and a black leather jacket, pants of the same color and large brown combat boots. From the sound it made as he stepped, it was obvious they were steel-tipped.

He slowly moved a hand over the metal door of the file cabinet, then curled his hand into a fist, his hand shimmering for a second as if it were made of metal. Then came a loud crash as he slammed his fist into the door, causing it to pop open. "Humans and their primitive devices." he chuckled to himself as he removed a file, slamming the door shut again and making his way back to the front door. "She's gonna get it when I see her." he said, reaching out to grab the door handle.

Exile took a deep breath and aimed his gun down at the wolf and firing. The bullet hit the arm of the wolf and made a sound that a bullet would make if it came in contact with metal, then ricocheted from the arm and into the ground. "No." Exile whispered to himself in disbelief.

A groan of disgust emitted from the wolf. "Man, and I was really hoping I wouldn't have to kick anyone's ass tonight." He stepped from the door with a sigh. "But if I can't even go to a damn library anymore without some prick discriminating me for being a God damned wolf, then I guess I'm never gonna get a normal outing, am I?!" he growled lowly.

"Technically what you were doing is illegal by more than just human standards, comrade." Exile said, lowering the gun and pulling the light string once more, exposing himself. "You see, I am animal also."

The wolf smirked, stroking his chin with his free paw. "And what're you? Some kinda feral police officer caged here by the humans?" he asked.

Exile shook his head. "Not anymore, no." he said slowly. "Once maybe, but I gave that up."

"So then what exactly is someone like you doing here?" the wolf asked.

"I should be asking you same thing." Exile said, hopping over the banister and onto the floor below.

"Regaining something very valuable to me." he said, shaking the files in his hand gently. "Now, if you don't mind, I'll be on my way." he said, turning for the door again, but stopped when he heard Exile ready his gun again. He sighed long and hard, "Listen buddy. I've really gotta split, but before I go..." he said, unhooking something from his belt. "Please excuse the cliché exit my friend." he chuckled, dropping a large canister onto the floor as smoke began to pour from it.

Exile's eyes widened with fear. He acted quickly, not sure if it was a lethal substance or not, shielding his face with his arm and rolling off behind a nearby desk. The sound of the doors being opened rang through the hissing sound of the grenade dropped by the mysterious wolf.

"Damn." Exile coughed, standing up in the smoke. It soon cleared, exposing a paper left behind near the door. Exile turned his attention to it, walking over and grabbing it. "Project: New Moon." he read aloud. "Government issued?" he asked, looking over the rest of the paper quickly. "No?" He skimmed further and there it was. The answer to his questions.

Professor Shepherd was responsible for New Moon, but according to the document, only for Earthly operations. New Moon first appeared three months ago, just around the time Hunter had died. The mission location assigned; Dar fur, Africa. The exact same spot Hunter had been assigned to. A later mission showed New Moon had been responsible for the faulty bomb Colleen had been blamed for. A sabotage mission.

Exile was silent. Hunter's killer was right in front of him and he let him escape. The only thing left Exile had to find was where Shepherd was and get some clarification on this. But in order to find Shepherd, Exile would have to follow New Moon.


	6. The Rebels

"Recording number seventy-seven." New Moon spoke from behind the glow of a fire. "I've obtained my files and am currently reading through them, slowly observing every aspect of the time I missed." he sighed. "Seven years are summed up in the text of these files and I have yet to read up on why this was done. Why they made me attack innocents. Why they used me like a God damned weapon. Why they took me from where I was content. I myself have a seemingly endless amount of questions."

The small tent nearby suddenly began to glow from the inside. "We get it, okay." a woman's voice said groggily. "You're mysterious and feeling sorry for yourself, just like any other heroine who's existed in the past four decades." she sighed, the sound of sheets moving as she opened the front of the tent, poking her head out. She was a wolf too. She wore a small beanie on her head, making her ears fold back and point out of the back of her hat. Her hair, long and sandy-blond, cascading down to her waist. Wearing a tight long sleeved shirt that was colored a dark purple, it stopped just before reaching her waist, exposing her stomach slightly, her jeans following and torn slightly.

"Sorry that I was more used, unlike you." he laughed. He sighed a little and looked up at the stars above. The clouds that were surrounding them had dispersed and now the sky was aglow with small lights. "Where the hell are the others?" he asked, looking back at the girl.

She shrugged, crawling out from the tent and brushing herself off. "Not sure, but I'm confident they know what they're doing. After all, they're the ones who recruited us." she said with a feigned smile. The other wolf looked at her peculiarly.

"Something wrong Rayne?" he asked softly. She shook her head, taking a seat near the fire and holding her legs to her chest. "You sure?" he asked, trying to pry answers from her.

"Cyber, look at me." Rayne demanded. His attention was now focused on her. "I'm fine, okay?" she told him, making sure he nodded back.

"Yeah, alright." he said, leaning up against the tree behind him. "I owe you." Cyber suddenly spoke. She cocked her head to the side in a quizzical manner. "For bringing me here."

"I wanted to help." she said timidly. "You lost something none of us can imagine losing, plus a lot more." She shook her head, "Besides, if it weren't for you down in Dar Fur, I wouldn't be here."

"I guess that's the only plus I got from Dar Fur." he sighed.

"What exactly were you doing down there anyway?" Rayne asked, scooting closer to Cyber. "Unless you don't wanna talk about it."

"No, it's okay." he said heavily. A pause struck him, remembering it. It was hot down there, humid. The people all looked at him in disgust, much like the people had done in Moscow, but there was different meaning behind it. The people there had lost their faith in humanity, they've lost hope. "I was promised the answers about what happened to me." He said slowly, recalling Shepherd. "Someone told me that if I was able to complete these assassinations on a few bio-terrorists that I'd be able to have them." he shut his eyes tightly. "Turns out said terrorists were part of some secret U.S. Organization issued to protect the people there from an approaching threat. He was testing my skills."

Rayne was silent. She had nothing to say, just absorbing all of the information set a shock to her being. She wasn't used, not like this at least. "There were five. I did away with two. Both of the anthromorph species. Big shaggy one and a retriever. Then I found out what was goin' on. Decided after that I'd get my sides right. Become the good guy, ya know?"

Nodding slowly, Rayne looked up at him, a distanced expression glued to his face. It usually had a care-free smile to it, but it faded as he recalled the events that lead him here. She knew he wasn't from here. Reason being when he arrived, he was dressed in something you'd wear during World War II. He can't remember where he came from, just waking up in New York with nowhere to go. "I understand."

"Sorry." he said in almost a whisper.

"For what?" Rayne asked.

"For complaining." he said with a smile. "It's just been eating me from the inside for all this time."

"No problem big guy." she said with a sweet smile. "Besides, it's not like I'm here for nothing, right?" she asked him with a small shove at his arm playfully.

"No, you're here because of your clairvoyance abilities." he laughed. He then looked down at the files in his hand, reading the name they had used to refer to him. New Moon. Rayne looked down at the text.

"What's with that anyway?"

"Not sure, but they say it's my project title." Cyber said, eying the document closely. "I'm still learning about myself." he smirked. She smiled back at him like a child, a hint of naivety on the corners of her lips.

The sound of footsteps came from the brush behind the camp. Snapping branches and crinkling leaves. Cyber and Rayne both looked back, his ears perked and hers turned slightly to amplify the sounds. Three figures approached from the shadows. "Damn." Cyber growled, standing up. As they neared the light of the fire, the two in front had eyes wide with terror. One of them a cat, the other a dog. "Rory, Arc." Cyber nodded. "And guest."

"You know where Shepherd is." the figure behind them spoke. The sound of guns clicking sounded and Rory shivered. A low growl emitted shortly after, "Speak!" he barked.

Cyber smirked, "Put the guns down, then we'll have negotiations."

"You didn't give comrades negotiations, in my book, is fair trade. Don't you agree?" he asked in a sinister tone. His eye visible through a ray of light that splashed upon his face. It was shooting Cyber through the mind, driving deep into his soul with a dagger that consisted of pure hatred. "So tell me, why the hell I should have any sympathy for your friends' lives!"

"He told me about you." Rayne spoke softly, stepping forward. "Exile." A shock echoed down the husky's spine as she spoke. "Hunter, he was your friend, wasn't he?" she asked him. Her tone wasn't angry. It wasn't threatening at all, it was as if she was talking to a child. Tears welled up in Exile's eyes, softening them, but he didn't dare speak. Not yet.

"Your friends..." Cyber began, his eyes pointed at the ground, "They were good people."

"Don't give me that." Exile said angrily. "If you knew...If you knew who they were, you still would have done what you did." he said, pointing his guns at Cyber now.

Cyber shook his head. "No Exile." he said slowly. "I know you're mad right now, but maybe you should read these." he said, offering Exile the folders. "Your Shepherd's a criminal."


	7. Haunted by Memories

Laying next to him, she didn't dare move. She laid still as not to disturb his slumber, the dawn just beginning to pour into the window that was on the wall. Sighing to herself as she looked over at him, she then smiled. His ear twitched, startling her somewhat. "Oh, you're awake." she gasped, resting a hand on his shoulder. He nodded, rolling over to face her. His muzzle sticking out towards her as he planted a kiss on her. She closed her eyes, kissing back, wrapping her hands around the back of his head and pulling him in for a more intense and passionate moment. It all felt so right, but there was something she recalled, a re-occurring incident that took place whenever these things would happen.

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, Colleen." Blitz's voice spoke softly to her. She smiled, blushing slightly.

"Come here, you." she said, grabbing him by the shoulders and dragging him along with the sheets of the bed on top of her, bringing him in for another kiss. "You big old softie." she said in between lip-locking.

"Wouldn't be so easy if it wasn't what you wanted." he said, running his hands down her sides, making her quiver slightly. She gasped quietly, surprised by his cold hands. "You alright?" he asked.

Colleen nodded, closing her eyes as she ran her fingertips down the front of his chest, "Yeah." she whispered. She kissed once more, pivoting her head to match his. He rolled his lips, slipping his tongue into her mouth and along the side of her own tongue. She inhaled deeply, her fingernails traveling up his spine and delivering small shocks. Gliding her tongue along the roof of his mouth, she felt the cold hands return again, making her yelp and break the kiss. "What is wrong with you?" she asked, opening her eyes and holding his hands.

"Nothing, why?" he asked, looking down at her curiously. "I mean, I feel just fine." Colleen nodded, trying to warm his hands with hers, rubbing fingers against fingers to create friction. "Colleen?" he asked, noticing she was spacing out. She turned to look at him, her eyes wide with fear. It was Hunter. She didn't speak, paralyzed with fear. "Colleen, answer me." he said to her, his image changing back. "Sweetheart, you positive you're okay?"

"Positive." she said, blinking and rubbing her eyes. She looked back, and there he was again, right where Blitz should have been. Her body numbed into the cold that began to overwhelm her, tears welling up in her eyes. "What are you doing here?!" she yelled out, her wrists being pinned to the bed. "You're not supposed to be-"

"I'm not." Hunter whispered, bending down to look at her, face to face. He sniffed her hair, giving her a small lick on the cheek. She closed her eyes the entire time, hoping Blitz would come back. Opening her eyes, she realized it wasn't going to happen.

"Why? Why are you here?!" she yelled out, a hand grabbing her muzzle and closing it shut.

"Shh. Not too loud." he said slowly. "You're the reason I'm here." he said, a cool, calm, collected expression on his face, he removed his hand from her muzzle and rested it at his side. "Only reason I'm anywhere anymore." he said with a smirk.

"No! No! Blitz!" Colleen pleaded desperately. "Blitz! Help!" she stopped, watching as Hunter began to move. His eyes rolled back into his head, mouth opening and bits of graying fur shed onto the bed sheets. "What the hell is happening?! Why won't you just leave dammit?!". His skin became wrinkled, more fur falling from his body, which was now becoming more skeleton like. Tears began to form in the flesh, the smell of death enveloping the entire room. His jaw muscles ripped, insects crawling from within and out onto his now corpse-like figure and onto Colleen. She kept yelling, but with no luck. Hunter was dying again, right in front of her, and there was no-one who could hear her cries.

"Get them off!" Came a muffled sound from the other room. Blitz opened his eyes, squinting at the bright lights of the dawn that entered the gigantic window. He rubbed his eyes, quickly springing up to look over at the door.

"Colleen?" he asked, worried. He hurried over, opening the door, "Colleen, you okay?" he asked as he watched her body's jerking movements betwixt the sheets. "The hell?" he asked himself, then recalling what she had told him last night. 'I have dreams...' he replayed the message in his mind, quickly moving to the side of the bed and picking her up like a child. Shushing her and running a hand through her hair, he whispered to her softly, "It's okay, it was just a dream."

Her whimpering ceased as she opened her eyes to see Blitz holding her. She looked up at him, a smile of relief quickly turning into a quivering lip of painful memories. "He was back." she said, burying her head in Blitz's chest again. Trying to choke back tears, she drew her head up, realizing in full effect that he was actually holding her. Realizing this, she blushed. "I'm sorry." she said, a cherubic smile latching itself onto her face. He shook his head gently.

"No need to apologize." he said to her, carefully rubbing the back of his hand along her cheek.

'This is reality.' she said to herself. 'We aren't together, and we're not gonna be.' But the voice in her head was overpowered by something else. Her heart. It screamed loudly as she looked up at his caring eyes, though faded and war-torn, they still carried the flame of passion within them. Passion for her. She closed her eyes, moving her muzzle in for him to kiss her, then stopped a few inches away, opening them back up.

"You're a really big tease, you know." he said with a smile, his nose almost touching hers. Colleen just gave an innocent smile, it was all she could do. Her eyes shifted to the floor, giggling slightly and wagging her long bushy tail.

"Said the big muscle man who burst into my room while I'm sleeping in practically nothing."

Blitz bit his lip, looking down at what she was wearing. A bra and some underwear, practically naked. He blushed wildly, looking up at the ceiling. "Um..." he mumbled as he chased nothing with his big brown eyes. "Yeah."

Colleen laughed, "Don't be afraid." she said calmly. "Trust me, if I was offended, you'd have already been on the floor with about three less teeth than you have right now." she said with a playful smile. Blitz laughed along with her nervously, shakily setting her back down on her bed. After clearing her throat she quietly said, "So, I've gotta go to work."

"Oh, alright." Blitz said, rubbing his head with his hand, moving towards the door. "I'll be out here." he said with a sweet smile. Colleen smiled back, watching as he slowly closed the door behind him, leaving her alone once again. It was nice having him here, but she felt it was only going to get harder. Harder to resist herself from giving herself to him, but she had _some_ self control. And the dreams, she hadn't had one that felt that real since it first happened. Now that Blitz was with her, she figured he was triggering the thought, or maybe it was just that it had popped up in conversation earlier. It didn't matter.

Making his way back to the living room, Blitz eyed the room once more, now being able to take in most of the features he hadn't realized were there before. Things like the color of the feet on the couch, a rich burgundy. Either that or the picture that rested on the small table next to it. Small and framed, it was a picture of the group in Africa during one of the earlier attempts at liberating a country in need. The photo had to be taken years before the accident.

He smiled to himself, leaning down closer for a better look at it. Hunter, who was front and center as usual, with two village children on either side and the rest of them behind him with a surplus of other children of the village. He missed those days sometimes, even if they weren't all the best any of them had shared. They were all together when the Rovers were operational, and that was what made it worth while.

Colleen appeared from the bedroom just moments of speculation later. Seeing Blitz staring at the old photo, she smiled. "Remember that?" she asked him, getting a simple nod in reply. "Dar Fur, remember it like it was yesterday. All of those poor children."

"Yeah." Blitz whispered in agreement.

"I can't believe that even with all of the work we did there that the place is still as bad as it was." she said to herself aloud, crossing her arms in her now very business-like outfit. A short, but not too short, skirt and high heels accompanied a plain white long-sleeved dress shirt with a vest pulled over. The pattern on the vest was an assortment of diamonds of different shades and colors blended together on a black canvas of the figure it hugged.

After a quick glance over her body, Blitz smirked. "Just where do you work anyhow?" he asked, turning around to face her.

Colleen blushed slightly, noticing he was looking her over and swayed somewhat, making the skirt flow in the created wind. "Fiftieth and Waterloo." she said with a small laugh. Blitz laughed along with her.

"You're funny." he said softly, recovering from his outbreak.

"I try." Colleen whispered to him, moving in just centimeters from his lips. He closed his eyes, puckering his lips for a kiss, but was surprised to feel her finger against the side of his eye, scraping away what built up after sleeping. Realizing this, they exchanged playful smiles. "I'm a receptionist for some big, 'Plotting to take over the world' kind of corporation." she said with a roll of her eyes. "You know, the typical kind of job one gets after serving in a secret service."

"I see." he said, watching as she moved over to her counter to grab her purse and what not. "and what am I supposed to do while you're gone?" he asked her as she neared the door.

She turned around, placing a finger on her chin and giving a low humming sound of thought. Then it came to her with a wry smile, "Miss me." she said teasingly as she opened up the door.

"Of course." he said slowly as she left.


	8. The Assassin

DAR FUR, AFRICA – ONE YEAR PRIOR

A quiet breeze lolled slowly over the long, tanned grass of the African savanna. Animals grazed quietly, drinking from their water pools in peace as life continued on as it normally did. The air was warm, but not a sticky, sweaty warm. A peaceful warm, one that made you want to take a sit under the nearest tree and sleep for a while, no matter what you were doing, and that's exactly what Cyber had been doing.

Up until now, he was pursuing a target who had taken part in a community restoration program, something boring and meaningless like that. Dressed in a beige collared shirt that buttoned down and a pair of army green combat pants, he was well-blended to the scenery. His hat, a typical cowboy-looking hat, was tilted down over his eyes to provide extra shade from the sun that was positioned high above him. On top of that, he wore a pair of jet black sunglasses just so that when he was working, he didn't have any of that unnecessary burning of the corneas.

A lazy yawn emitted from his muzzle as he stretched his arms outwards. He tipped his hat back in order to see his surroundings, not much had changed. A quick scratch at his cheek and he stood up, cracking his back somewhat and rolling his neck around to get the kinks of sitting down for too long out of his spine. After doing so, he shifted his view back to the motorcycle he'd taken to the spot.

He stared at it long and hard, and finally approached it, really not wanting to chase after his target any longer today. But there was too much at stake for him to just sit around all day. He checked it over, reading his gas gauge and giving an exasperated sigh as it read 'Empty'.

"Gotta be kidding me..." he growled quietly to himself, kicking the tire of the vehicle in discontent. "Well, I sure as hell ain't walking." he said, looking out at the vast plain that stretched out in front of him and carried on until well out of view.

Blue skies rolled in place as a small green vehicle made it's way along a dirt road. The occupants were that of African descent, carrying large rifles and even larger machetes at their sides. One passenger, however, was different. He was a broad golden color that seemed to pronounce itself from amongst all of the other colors surrounding, and went by the name of Hunter.

Taking on a solo mission, he was assigned to Dar Fur, where civility had apparently lost all of it's meaning since the Rovers had last been there. Not that there was much understanding to begin with, things had progressively gotten worse over the three years that a strong force of authority had been absent.

"So, how bad has it gotten since we were last out here do ya think?" he asked the man driving. The man turned to him, solid as a brick wall and looked dead at him for a good few seconds before turning back to the road. "I see." Hunter said to himself, filling in the blank. Turning to look back out at the Savanna, Hunter took in a deep breath. He left on a bad note.

The man in the seat next to Hunter suddenly shifted his view, stopping the car. He took the sunglasses he was wearing off and squinted into the distance. "Come." he said tersely, handing a pistol to the canine in the passenger seat of the vehicle. Without even waiting for his response, the men leaped from the car, readying their weapons.

He followed suit, cocking his weapon and jumping over the door of the car, joining the group as they made their way into the tall grass that filled the area.

The wolf had been walking for hours now, the same scene passing by every five seconds. The place was starting to get the best of him, the heat, the animals, the potential dangers that lurked within the grass. "This is bull." he said to himself as he stopped for a moment, taking a breather. Briefly looking up at the golden sun reminded him just how thirsty he actually was. "That's first on my list." he said, shielding the intense light from his eyes with his hand.

"Damn professor. The hell does he see in this place anyhow?" he asked as his view shifted back to the ground. Just then a large plume of dust rose up from the distance. The grass being rustled soon after accompanied by the sound of voices. "Great." he said sarcastically as he ducked down in the grass as the group neared.

"Come out with your hands raised where we can see them!" someone said. "We will not tolerate any form of resistance, and will fire without warning." The sounds of guns being readied emitted itself from before the wolf and his breathing stopped.

"You got me." he said casually, lifting his hands above his head as he stood up. "Great scout work there, guys." he mocked as the group lowered their guns. Cyber's eyes shifted over the members of the squad, scanning each one of them. Mostly just locals, and then there was him. The target, he was sure of it. A yellow lab.

"Good. Cuff him." Hunter said as he turned around to look at the vehicle, lowering his weapon. The men quickly apprehended the wolf, using force as they did. Roughing him up a bit as the lead him back to the car, Cyber began to smile. "Why are you so cheeky?" Hunter asked him.

Cyber's grin widened as they neared the vehicle. "Because I'm taking your ride, Fast Guy." he said slyly, his eyes turning into blank white orbs. The area surrounding them became noticeably darker as Cyber's fur began to lighten, turning white also.

"What the hell...?" Hunter asked himself as he backed away from the wolf. "Call for backup, now!" he yelled to one of the soldiers. He nodded, grabbing his radio and yelling a series of African commands into it, then readying his weapon.

Cyber growled lowly, letting out a flash of energy from his paw, allowing a quick escape from the man holding him. "Shepherd was right, you are prototypes." He then re-positioned himself in a flash of light, appearing behind a soldier and piercing his chest with his metal arm. Not even a scream emitted from the being seeing as it had been so quick. His attack continued, flash by swift flash. Breaking through the flesh of each soldier in a bloody rampage until only Hunter was left.

Grabbing for his radio frantically as he backed away from Cyber, he spoke nervously. "C-come in Central Command! Do you read me? Central? Do you copy?" The lab stopped. It seemed that fate had chosen to end his life, and no one but he would be able to do anything about it. Cyber was slowly on the approach, walking towards Hunter, his radiance illuminating the area around him with a mystical light.

The wolf stopped a few feet away from him, allowing a calming breeze to caress his fur. Closing his eyes, Hunter prepared himself silently. Just then, Cyber warped above him, coming down and smashing into the ground with incredible force. But to his surprise, he had crushed the ground. He quickly looked around for Hunter, but saw only a trail of flames on the road ahead. "Crafty bastard." Cyber huffed, the light in the area being restored as he faded back to his gray coloring.

"Hey Professor." Cyber said, tapping into an ear piece he was wearing.

"Yes New Moon? How goes the mission?" Shepherd's voice replied.

"The target has escaped, making his way down towards the town. Should I continue to pursue my objective?"

"I thought we agreed there would be no mistakes New Moon."

"It was a minor slip up."

"And yet an immense disappointment." Cyber rolled his eyes after the professor finished. "Continue the mission New Moon, but no more mistakes. By whatever means necessary, you must destroy Hunter."

"I won't let you down, professor." The wolf said, "My fate depends on it." With that, Cyber entered the vehicle left by the soldiers, their corpses lying in the road as he drove off after Hunter.


	9. Trouble In Mother Russia

"Question." The wolf in the leather jacket said as he walked along side a caravan being pulled by a horse. "Why hasn't Russia modernized in this area?" He turned to look at Exile who had his nose buried in the documents, just as he had been for the past few hours of the trek. He was unresponsive to any of their questions, doing nothing but reading up on all of the disclosed information that the government tried to hide. "Great." he said to himself, averting his attention back to the road ahead. "You have time to tell that story again there, Exile?" he asked sarcastically.

Exile gave a small groan as he closed the folder. "Is untouched part of Russia." he spoke in his heavy accent.

Cyber peered back at him once more. "Finally finished with that thing?" he asked him, arching a brow. "Did ya find your friends?"

The husky shook his head slowly. "No mentioning where they went."

Rayne's ears fell back, placing a hand on Exile's shoulder. "Don't worry, they'll show up sooner or later, right Cyber?" she said, trying to reassure him.

"Sure." Cyber agreed. "That is of course unless Shepherd's already found a new lackey and had them taken care of." the wolf snapped.

"At least you realize your mistake." Exile sighed, laying down on his back inside the caravan. "I suppose I thank you for this."

"I'm guessing that clears my name then?" Cyber asked, his ears perking up.

"Yes." Exile spoke softly, covering his eyes with his forearm. "It also mentions how you took the lives of hundreds of innocent people when you sabotage bomb."

Cyber grunted, "Nobody's perfect."

The sun was beginning to crest over the peaks of the hills that surrounded. Topped off by glittering snow, the hills shone on with a radiance that seemed to kiss the light of the new day with an unconditional love. They twisted together, bringing the world a combination of the two, allowing the sun to share itself with the snow, now taking it's life and no longer awaiting the sun's return. 'We've been waiting for you.' it spoke to those who saw them.

"Hey Exile, when was the last time those files were updated?" the wolf asked suddenly.

Exile sat up groggily and flipped through the files to the last page, "Two days ago." he said slowly. "Why?"

"Does it say anything about Shepherd's last location?" Cyber asked as the sound of pages being turned made themselves aware.

"A file recorded three days ago says he leave for Moscow that night. You don't think...?" he began.

"I do." Cyber spoke roughly. "How far of a trip is it to Moscow?" he asked.

The husky put a paw to his chin, "If we keep on track, we reach Moscow by afternoon."

Cyber smiled toothily, "Good." he said slowly as he kept his pace with the horse pulling the caravan.

Hours passed, and the sun finally held it's own in the sky, no longer having to be cared for by the snowy hills of Russia. It was whole in itself, just as it wanted to be, and just how others longed to be. The now envious hills, blanketed and weighted down by all of the sparkling children they and the sun had created, stared longingly at the sun, beckoning it's return. Slowly, but surely, the hills parted and revealed to weary travelers the equivalent of a divine intervention, Russia's capitol. Moscow.

"Is that...?" Cyber began, his ears perking up in hope.

Exile nodded with a somber grin on his face, "Moscow." A smile slowly washed over Cyber's face as he broke into a sprint down the dirt road towards the city. His jacket flailing in the wind behind him as his arms pumped to keep him running. "What his deal?" Exile asked as he turned to face Rori.

She smiled, "Someone important to him lives here."

"Oh." Exile said, slightly surprised by the fact. Cyber struck him as the type of person who didn't care about others, only about himself. A lone wolf, one who traveled alone, or gathered others to join his cause for his own gain. Whoever this person was, they must've had an incredible impact on his life, something that changed him.

Ace yawned, stretching his arms out into the air as he woke up in the back of the caravan. "What's goin' on?" he asked in a groggy daze. He had been sleeping the entire way to Moscow, and was just now seeing the light of day. "Where are we?" he asked, moving forward to get a better view.

"What's with you and all of the questions today Ace?" Rayne asked him rhetorically. "I mean, usually you don't say a word." She turned and grabbed him by the cheeks, pinching them and wiggling them from side to side. "I guess you've got some brain cells after all!" she laughed, slapping him playfully.

"Yeah." he said dully. "Where's the wolf?" he asked, looking around.

"He left to go and see her, we're nearing Moscow after all." Rayne said happily. "God, I can't wait to sleep in a bed!"

Rori shook her head, "Just remember to clean up your fur before we leave. I'm pretty sure whoever slept in that bed after you last time woke up looking like a mutt." she said with a chiding tone towards Rayne who smiled innocently.

Cyber ran into the city. His run slowing down as he entered a small market area, turning it into a jog. His tongue lolled out of his mouth as he panted wildly, swiveling around civilians and their goods and making his way up the road.

The wolf turned the corner, another anthro passing by. He took a look at Cyber, smiled widely and clasped his hands together, bowing in some sort of thanks. Cyber nodded back and averted his attention back towards the cobble-stone street that lay ahead of him. The small homes that lay nearly on top of each other with how close they were lining the sides of the road, creating a vast maze in the city.

He lined the streets, jogging down them and then heading around each corner in a zig-zag formation until he reached one of the longest in the city. He panted hard, hands clasped to his knees as he bent over for a moment to catch his breath. "I'm here." he said to himself, looking forward at a small home at the end of the street. "I'm here!" he yelled, some stopping to look at him as he ran at break neck speed toward the house.

As he neared, the door opened slowly, a toothy grin enveloping his face. Almost at the doorstep, his foot caught a patch of ice, causing him to trip. In mid-fall his smile turned into a wide-eyed look of terror. Straight down, his face fell onto the stone road right in front of the door. "I'm here." he said again, looking up with his large green eyes at a petite blond woman who was wearing a silky red dress.

"I missed those puppy eyes." she spoke softly, bending down and smiling at him. Closing her eyes, she placed her small hands beneath his muzzle, pulling it up and kissing him. He closed his eyes along with her, falling victim to her kiss and pushing his mouth against hers harder. She then broke the kiss. "I hope you decide to stay for a little longer this time. You know how I worry." she said softly still.

The wolf gave a sheepish smile to her, swiftly standing up over her and taking her by the waist, flipping her into his arms and carrying her in through the doorway. "Yeah, I know." he said with a quick lick of her nose. She laughed sweetly and rested her head upon his shoulder, gripping to his figure tightly as he shut the door behind them.

The others filed in slowly, making their way around the city after leaving the wagon at the front gates to be tended by the gatekeeper. Exile walked slowly along the sidewalk with the strangers who he'd only met last night. They had taken a liking to him, but they could all tell that they still had to earn his trust. There was clearly some gray area between he and Cyber, an area so deep and depressing that no being would ever want to exist there. Yet, he and Cyber, with their differences, had one common goal. An accomplishment that neither could achieve without the other.

The husky's ears perked up as a radio broadcast from a vendor's stand began belting a news bulletin. He pushed his way though the gathering crowd around the radio and listened intently. "Apparently, there is some sort of rogue anthromorph charging through the streets as we speak. We have no clarification yet on who exactly this being is, or even what, but it's massive. All sightings of the said beast have included a report of an older man with long gray hair standing by, unharmed. If anyone sees this man, it is recommended that you contact authorities immediately. Tha-Oh dear God!" the broadcast began to cut to static as screams were heard in the background.

A large plume of smoke emitted from the peaks of the buildings in the distance. Exile turned around to look at the others. They looked back at him, nodding their heads. He nodded back, and off they went, all four of them running down the street towards the explosion sight.

In mid-sprint, Rayne collapsed. Exile stopped, rushing over to her side and helping her up. Quickly turning to Ace and Rori, he gave them the signal to keep going. "Are you okay?" he asked her as she rubbed her temples. She moaned in pain, looking to the sky, her eyes taking on a purple coloring. "Rayne?" Exile asked, slightly surprised.

"Your friend is here." she spoke lowly. Her eyes closed slowly as she began to fall backwards. Exile, in reaction, dashed forward and caught her. "And he's not happy with you..."


	10. A Night on the Town

"Please?" Colleen begged him with her big beautiful blue eyes. "It'll be fun, I promise." she continued. The two of them were sitting together on the couch in the apartment living room. Colleen had gotten a letter earlier inviting them to a fancy 'higher up' party and was now trying to get Blitz to accompany her.

"I'm not comfortable in a tie." he said looking down at her. She looked back up at him, exchanging pleasantries between quick blinks of the eye. "Fine." he said finally. There wasn't much he could do, he owed her. Not only for letting him stay here, but for being there. Just being there.

She squealed in delight, grabbing his hand and gripping it tightly as she stood up, pulling him into her arms. She wrapped them around what she could of his immense figure, squeezing tight.

They stayed like this for a few moments. "Colleen?" Blitz asked, catching her off guard. She looked up at him, giving a gleeful smile and nodding.

"C'mon, we have to get you fitted." she said, dusting his chest off daintily.

After about five hours of relentless shopping, Colleen had found something she liked on Blitz. After which, the two of them decided to go out for a night on the town together. She was finally going to show Blitz all that New York had to see, and she intended to let him see much more.

They were headed back to the apartments to drop off their clothing, walking down a crowded street in the middle of the city. Blitz carried the heavy bags in his hands, Colleen riding on his shoulders, a large smile on both of their faces as they got every odd look in the book. But they didn't care. There wasn't a damn to give about what other people thought of them as long as they were together, and as long as she had a smile on her face.

"Okay, okay." Colleen gasped between fits of laughter. "Put me down so I can unlock the door." Blitz let out one last chuckle and obeyed, setting the bags he was carrying on the ground and reached above his head, grabbing her by the waist and bringing her down in front of him.

"Thank you." she sighed in content as she reached into her pocket for her keys. Blitz looked down at her as she searched her pocket. Even the smallest things she did were incredible. And there they were, shiny and silver as she revealed them, only to put them into the lock of the door and twist them, opening the door. "Alright, come on." she said, bringing him into the apartment once more. "Set those up on the counter, we'll deal with them later."

"Later? Why not now?" Blitz asked as he turned to watch her walk off towards her room.

"I'm gonna freshen up a bit, change, and then I'm gonna take you out to see the city at night." she said with a playful smile forming on the corners of her lips. She then disappeared hurriedly into her room, closing the door behind her.

Blitz toyed with the idea in his head for a moment, not sure whether this would be beneficial or not. He walked toward the counter, setting the bags down with a heavy 'thud' and placed a paw to his chin. Why would she take him out now? It was probably just the excitement of the party getting to her. Either that or she was going to show him these things so he had something to talk about while they were there. Or-The thought crossed his mind, what if she wanted tonight to end with no one on the couch?

That was a scary thought. Not really as scary as it was unbelievable. That would never happen, and Blitz lashed himself for even thinking that may be a possibility among all of the others that had so much more to do with the situation. Besides, she was still trying to get over Hunter. People don't let go of things like that so easily.

His thought was interrupted by the sound of Colleen's door opening. She was radiant. Her hair now curled ever so slightly, cascaded down to about mid-back. She wore a black dress, it shimmered when the light hit it in just the right places, making the first glance even more powerful. It was short cut, stopping with a skirt-like ending at her knees. Leaving the curves of her legs exposed for all to see and marvel over. They were perfect, just like the rest of her.

"Well, stop staring and tell me how I look." she cut through his thought as she put a hand on her hip and shifted slightly to the left. How did she look? Words could not describe how she looked, but should he tell her that? No. He would just go with a typical answer, one that only slightly revealed how he felt.

"You look amazing, Colleen." he said slowly, still taking in her form. Blitz knew that he should have said something a little more witty, but the effect of what he'd just said didn't kick in right away, so it felt good for a few moments. She leaned forward slightly, then posing another question.

"How amazing?" she asked him, a sneaky little smirk lining her lips. He froze for a second, his mind going blank again. It was a little much that he was even living with her to begin with, but he'd learned how to form words and was doing well up until now. They had once again left his mind, completely selfish in the way that when he needed them most, they disappeared.

"Really, really amazing." he managed to get out. She laughed a little, seeing he wasn't able to form statements.

"I see." she said softly, seeming to chase away whatever insecurities he had about what he'd just done. She had a way about her. A way to make just about any situation better than it was. This was one. She moved past him, taking something from behind her back and then swiftly getting behind him.

"What are you-?" he asked, being cut off by the feeling of something wrapping around his neck. Her hands worked quickly, tying something on as she moved to come face to face with him.

"You look good in a tie, Blitz." she said, looking him over and smiling at the job she'd just done.

The larger dog looked down at his neck, "Thanks." he replied, giving a feeble smile back to her. Colleen looked to the window of the apartment, the sun was setting.

"Alright, come on." she said tersely, grabbing the keys from the counter that had been set next to their bags and grabbed Blitz's hand, leading him to the door. "We're gonna have some fun tonight."

More crowded than usual, the streets of New York seemed to be absolutely filled with life that night. There were all kinds of tourists, as usual, visiting the landmarks that the city held to it's reputation. The two of them walked side by side, gazing up at the lights of the downtown district as they continued their stroll. Blitz had never seen anything like it before. It was simply amazing, all of the flashing and flickering of the signs was almost enough to make someone feel as if they were no longer on this planet.

"Look over there!" Colleen said, pointing towards one of the flashing signs. "Do you know what that is Blitz?" she asked, hanging onto his arm.

The large dog put a paw to his chin and looked on at the sign. It's lights reflecting in his eyes as he took a moment of thought. "Nope." he said simply, looking back down at Colleen.

"It's Broadway!" she said, twirling herself around his arm like a dancer on a pole. "God, I've always wanted to be on that stage. If it weren't for my being a...well, you know." Blitz nodded in understanding at her comment.

"I got it." he said, sighing. "Colleen?" he asked her after a few more steps. "Can I ask you something?"

The collie stopped in her tracks just a step or two ahead of him, turning around to face him. "Well, sure Blitz, I don't see why not."

The large canine swallowed hard, shutting his eyes for a second that carried on far too long. "Why did you really let me come here with you?" he asked suddenly, opening his eyes again to see the beautiful blues of hers look down at the sidewalk.

"I-I'm not sure of that yet myself Blitz." she said in a stutter. "I thought I knew, when I brought you here..." she said with a pause. "Listen, I'm way too sober to deal with this sort of thing right now. Let's talk about this after I've had a few drinks or something." she said shakily.

Blitz nodded, "I didn't mean to upset you, if that's what I'm doing." he spoke softly.

"No, no." Colleen began, shaking her head, "I just do better with these situations when I'm relaxed." There. She admitted it right there and Blitz read it like an open book. A page of a newspaper that had just yesterday headlined the world's media, and the title was, 'Colleen Wants You!'.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" he asked quickly, stepping forward so that he was by her side once more.

She didn't respond at first, just a slight shrug of her shoulders as she gripped his arm with both of her hands, pulling him along with her. "A lot of things."


	11. The Man Once Called 'Master'

Buildings lay half in ruins, people laying in the streets, crying desperately for help. Their cries would not be heard in time, as most were only able to emit small moans, barely clinging to what life remained. Exile walked through, a strange quiet filling the air. The air itself was filled with the scent of death and despair. A breeze passed through, ruffling the fur on his face softly as he came to a stop in the center of the street.

There was a single figure just about ten feet in front of him, large, brown, and panting. It seemed to be hunched over, sounds of gnawing emitted from the creature. The husky sniffed the air as quietly as possible, "Rayne was right..." he spoke softly as images came back to him.

Two figures on either side of the street were perched on top of buildings. Rori and Ace. The two of them watched in utter silence as the beast lurched forward, then stood up at a towering eight feet tall, turning around with a slow growl and facing Exile. Ace moved toward the edge of the roof quickly with intentions of distracting the beast when Rori caught his eye.

Her expression screamed, 'You move and he won't be the one killing you, Ace!' and with that, he hunched back down into his waiting position. "You win this time, but if things get too out of hand I'm going in." he whispered to himself.

Exile stood silently as the beast towered over him, a solid stream of saliva trailing from it's lips as it snarled wildly. Yet, amidst all of that, the images of the past leaked through, changing his view. "You don't want to hurt me, do you?" he asked hopefully. The creature said nothing, only leaned down and sniffed at Exile as he stood still.

A low below came from the monster's lungs as it took on it's full height once again, roaring in rage. Exile shuffled backwards, drawing his weapons and readying them at the face of the other.

"He doesn't remember you, Exile." a spine-tingling voice spoke from behind the husky. "Heel boy." he spoke calmly as he approached, standing next to Exile. "Good to know that his sense of smell is still at it's best though." he said with a slight laugh. The man was wearing a black robe, but from under the hood he wore it was plain to see that he had long silver hair.

"Ma-" Exile managed to get out before he was struck in the gut with a knee.

"No, Exile. Not anymore." he said with a small laugh. "The only one I have left is muzzle. The rest of you are nothing but strays."

Exile struggled to get to his knees, coughing from the blow still, "What? Why?" he asked as he crawled forward, trying to stand back up.

"As you can see, I've changed him. Seeing as my other weapon didn't work, it had too much knowledge, I saw it fit that Muzzle would be perfect for this kind of mission."

"And just what kind of mission is that, Shepherd?" another voice asked as a figure dropped behind the man in the black robe, delivering a fist to the back of his head, but missing as the man in the black robe shifted quickly, grabbing a hold of the other's fist.

"Speak of the Devil..." Shepherd spoke slowly as he drank in the wolf's image once again.

"Not yet, but I'll make sure you're able to speak to him as soon as possible!" Cyber growled, throwing Shepherd from himself with a powerful thrust of his arms. The old man used this to his advantage, however, and flipped backwards in mid-air, landing on one of the buildings lining the street.

This was his chance. Ace sprung up from his position and darted as fast as he could towards the cloaked man, hopping rooftops as he did. "Dammit Ace! Not yet!" Rori yelled from the other side of the street as she began running along her side.

Cyber ran to Exile's side, helping him up just as the large beast that Shepherd had claimed was Muzzle started another roaring fit. "You notice anything strange about your 'Master' there, Exile?" he asked as he pulled the husky to his feet.

"Yes." he coughed out, staggering forward and taking a steady aim at Shepherd from the ground and firing a few shots in his direction, all being dodged easily.

"He's definitely done something to himself..." Cyber spoke under his breath. Their attention soon turned back to Muzzle, a large arm swinging in their direction. The wolf grabbed Exile's arm and quickly dodged the swinging limb. "Let's pay more attention to the problem at hand, deal?" he said, reaching for the pistol he had at hand.

Exile nodded in agreement, taking aim at Muzzle who was pulling his large, muscular arm back to his side with a snarl of anger. "You were never meant to be transformed comrade..." Exile whispered slowly to himself as the terror his friend had become approached them once more. "We can't hurt him." he said, looking over at Cyber quickly.

The wolf sighed, "He's not your friend anymore Exile, you can't take this so lightly. We have no other choice than to take this big bastard down. All he's gonna do is bring harm to himself and everyone around him." The husky's ears bolted themselves to his skull. "Trust me on this one...I know how it feels to destroy someone this close to you..."

Exile shook his head, running to his right and along the sidewalk. "We can still try!" he yelled over to Cyber. Shaking his head, Cyber hopped backwards, taking a few shots at Muzzle's limbs. He'd eventually convince Exile, but apparently not after he received a good beating.

His bullets barely even scratched the monstrosity that bellowed lowly again. "Gotta move!" Cyber yelled to Exile who was now being targeted by Muzzle. "Now!" he screamed as he ran behind the beast and pulled a knife from his pocket, flipping the blade out of the handle and stabbing it into the creature's foot, catching his attention.

Ace hopped over another gap between the roofs of the buildings, Shepherd being on the next one. He Closed his eyes in mid-air, the weightless feeling of being in free-fall allowed him a moment's time to process what he needed to. He needed to gather his energy. Like everyone, he too was an experiment and possessed certain powers as result of his experimentation.

"Shepherd!" he growled as he opened his eyes, flipping for a fancy landing on the roof. "Finally, we meet face to face." he said with a sly smirk lining his maw.

The professor turned around in time to see the look on Ace's face. "I'm quite the popular one these days, aren't I?" he asked rhetorically, tilting his head somewhat.

"Yeah, it would seem that creating abominations is the new fad." Ace replied, a single spark zapping between his fingers.

"Ace!" Rori yelled from the other side of the road, "Please!" she begged. The other wolf did all but pay attention to her cries, circling in a deadly dance with the professor. The two of them paced around in a spherical motion for a moment, waiting to see who would make the first move. Rori was made helpless. She knew if she tried to interfere that Ace would go all in and most likely not come back, but Shepherd was much too powerful for Ace. If she waited where she was, Ace would surely die by the professor's hand.

With a smile and a slight huff, Shepherd disappeared, only to reappear in front of Ace, delivering a kick to his stomach. Being sent backwards from the force of the kick, Ace skillfully flipped from his hands, briefly touching the ground and was back up on his feet. Sparks now making themselves more apparent around his hands, jolting every now and then and making a crackling sound.

"Please Ace, I had a hand in creating you." Shepherd spoke collectively. "You really think you have a chance?" he laughed, "Not even if all of you-" he was cut off by a gunshot. Rori stood on the other building, a pistol in hand, the barrel smoking as he looked at his shoulder. Blood, he had been shot while his guard was down.

Ace realized that this was the time to attack, his arms shooting forward in front of him as he released the lightning that ran through his body towards Shepherd. The blue streams of electricity crackling loudly as they left his limbs. The professor saw the blast and flipped backwards out of it's path. "Can't you do better than the norm, Ace?"

"Ace, get out of there now!" she pleaded to him.

"I can do this Rori, trust me!" he yelled back at her, going in for an uppercut on Shepherd. He missed, the skilled man dodging to the left of his fist and then dropping his own elbow down on to Ace's, a loud snap could be heard as he did. Following up his elbow was his knee, driving straight into Ace's chest and sending him four feet away on his back.

Professor Shepherd smiled triumphantly as he walked over to the wolf who was writhing in pain on the ground. "Poor little Ace." he sighed, speaking his words softly and slowly as he knelt down in front of his face, a sad look upon his. "You know, I really should have put more thought into you. Look what a failure you've become." he said, shaking his head. "It really is a shame..."

More shots rang out from Rori's gun accompanied by screams, "Ace! Get up and run, Ace!" It seemed right then and there that time stood completely still. Rori's vision becoming impaired and yet it was like she was right in front of the silver haired insomniac himself. She couldn't speak, nor move. All she could do was watch as Shepherd stood up before Ace, placing his boot to Ace's face. Trembling beneath the grip of his enemy, Ace knew this was it. He braced himself for what was about to overcome him, death. Looking on at Rori, Shepherd smiled his devilish smile and gave a slight sign of struggle as he began to place pressure on Ace's skull. "Please..." Rori begged in vain.

"Any last words, Ace?" Shepherd asked rhetorically, not actually caring what useless words Ace had left in his arsenal.

"Eat shit." Ace growled. Soon after, a loud crunching sound was heard amongst everyone in the area. The sound of Ace's skull being crushed like a mere melon under the pressure of Shepherd's power.

Silence befell Cyber, no noise other than his own breathing. Muzzle's movements became slower to him, easier to dodge as he looked up at the man on the rooftop, like a silent movie. A disgusting smile overcame the professor's face, a smile that Cyber knew all too well. Although he couldn't quite tell what he had done just yet, he knew that he was too late to stop Shepherd's objective.

Screaming now, Rori fell to her knees, sobbing in anger and sorrow. She beat the cement of the rooftop against her poor little fists until they bled, the stinging pain being blinded by her sheer anger. Taking a deep scattered breath from her heavy mourning she looked across the way through her tears to read Shepherd's lips as they spoke only to her now. "You're next." he said.

"I'll fucking kill you!" she screeched, standing and firing at him until she had unloaded her clip.

"Is that a threat?" Shepherd asked cockily as Cyber dodged the fist of the monstrosity once more, bolting with lightning speed up the side of the building. He still had no idea, but this was his moment. This was one of the only times he had been quick enough to catch the professor off guard, and he was taking advantage of it.

"No, it's a God damn promise!" the wolf growled, a harsh light enshrouding his arm as he delivered a fist to Shepherd's jaw, sending him back a good five feet. The problem being, he was still on his feet. Clenching his jaw, Shepherd began to laugh, looking first at Rori, then at Ace's body.

"A promise, Cyber?" he asked, laughing still. "A promise?" he laughed louder now. "How can one take you seriously anymore? Do you not recall the last promise you made to me? The promise of loyalty? How can anyone count on your promises?"

Cyber growled lowly, his limb still glowing a bright white. Blinding if you looked straight at it. "You've just made a fuckin' death wish Professor Shepherd." he said, anger growing in his voice. He snarled, "And your blood is gonna be the fucking ink!". The wolf was quick to draw his gun, releasing a few shots towards the man as he turned and ran across the rooftops again.

"Muzzle, please! Stop this, comrade!" Exile begged to the larger animal as it lifted a street lamp from it's foundation. "I know you are in there, please, just come out." he pleaded.

Hearing Muzzle's screaming roar, he turned to watch as he wound up with the street lamp in attempt to hit Exile with it, then he turned as his target, Shepherd turned around to face him, a few rooftops away. He flipped the hood on his dark cloak up and smirked that smirk again before snapping his fingers. "Come." he spoke calmly.

The light was dying as Cyber's rage was subsiding. Pain struck his heart as he looked down at the murder site. Ace, he was one of them. One of the first, but surely not the last. There was nothing more of him now, and Cyber was just getting the after effects of it. Like a wave of the tide that had been delayed until it hit the sand just now.

Muzzle stopped in mid-swing hearing the professor's fingers snap together. It was a command, and he obeyed simply by dropping the lamp and stalking off towards his master. The same one Exile had once called Master. The same Master who had just murdered one of his own. The same Master who had created them all.

He sat down in the street, too over taken by all of what had just happened. Muzzle was now a monster, and the professor was a murderer. He shook his head silently to himself, shedding a single tear for what had once been.

They were gone now, Shepherd and Muzzle. All that remained was the sound of sirens in the distance from the destruction they had caused in the city previously and Rori's sobbing. Cyber sat on the edge of the roof, head buried in his arms as he tried his hardest not to scream at the top of his lungs. "I'll kill him..." he muttered to himself as tears burned their way out of his eyes and down his furred cheeks. If he was going to stop Shepherd, he would have to do it before he became indestructible.


	12. A Withered Past and a Blurry Future

"If the road to Hell is paved with good intentions...then does that mean the opposite for salvation? Nothing makes sense anymore. At least, I can't make sense of it. The only thing I do know is that I'll be joining you shortly if you take your life." She spoke so calm. It made him feel at home again. Her voice reminding him of his mother. A white dress covered her small body, brunette locks of hair spiraling down to her shoulders, light almost radiating from her soul which was so pure.

He lowered the gun from his head, dropping it to the ground. The sound of the metal clashing against the rock floor echoed across the dead space that surrounded the two of them. She, a priestess who was supposed to be headed for safety, and he, the legend. "I can't do this." he said quietly, letting his words sink in. The place they were in, it was more like a cave than an underground bunker. Barely any light, blue tinting the rocks, and a neon green moss crawling over everything.

This was his first taste of defeat. Having to stand over his best friend's body as the color faded from his eyes. The blood was the only thing left of him that even held color. Crimson. "If it was me, you would still have a chance."

The wolfess shook her head, "Why do you say that?" she asked, grabbing his arm.

"Because that's the truth, Kimri!" he shouted, turning and knocking her back with his arm. A scowl had grown, polluting his face with anger and frustration. "He was your only chance at living and I let him die while you watched your only chance disperse into the puddles on the ground!"

"Cyber..."

"No. I can't do this! You were the only one of our kind who even meant anything anymore! Without you we're all dead..." his voice trailed off into the darkness, resting in different locations, and then dying off.

She approached him once more, laying her hands on his shoulders. He could feel her light seep into him. A warm feeling swept over his body. "I trust you with my life."

"I don't trust myself with your life."

"But I do, and that should be enough alone to get you through this." She grabbed a hold of his hand, holding on to it tightly. "I promise not to let go if you promise the same." she said in the same cool manner as before.

Cyber closed his eyes slowly, shaking his head. "Kimri...I can't let you die."

"Then don't." she spoke softly, gripping his hand tighter in hers. "It's your choice."

"It's all in my hands though and I-"

"Your hands are in mine now."

Cyber awoke in a cold sweat. He was greeted only by the sound of a crackling fire and the calm of the night in the mountains. After the incident back in Moscow, the group had decided to move their location, seeing as there were multiple sightings of each one of them at the scene.

Pulling himself up by his arms, Cyber sat up right in the back of the caravan. Apparently he had fallen asleep on the ride up into the mountains. Everything before that was now a blur, his head hurt, and he was disoriented. Rubbing his temples, he threw his legs over the edge of the wagon, letting them dangle as he yawned. Holding his arms to the sky, his back cracked in a few places, as well as his shoulders and forearms in the process.

The wolf then looked around for his partners, who were gathered around a fire about ten feet away. None of them had noticed his awakening, so he just watched for a moment. He saw Exile half asleep leaning against a log, Rori poking at the fire, but Rayne was no where to be found.

With a puzzled look on his face, the wolf turned around to see her sitting in the front of the wagon, a purple haze illuminating the darkness around her, meditating. He only looked on for a mere minute or two, but that was just enough time for her to get into his mind. He felt it happen. It was no surprise, with how much his mind had been taxing him the past few days she could easily enter now.

"You were having that dream again, weren't you?" she asked softly, almost as an invitation for him.

"Yeah." he spoke shortly. "Yeah, I was."

"The two of you, Exile and yourself, you;re not as different as you think." she said with a frown. "I was quite surprised to see what I saw in him, but you tell the same old story almost every time."

"I know."

"That was really a turning point, wasn't it? That single moment was where you had to decide the fate of an entire race, right? That was right before the war?" she asked, still quietly.

"Yeah."

"I had never heard or seen this place you're from until I started reading you. Now I feel as if I'm an expert." she said in almost a whisper, accompanied by a small scowl. "It seemed like it was once a wonderful place."

"It was."

"What happened? You never go back that far. You're always concentrating on her."

"That's because I hadn't met her yet."

"Do you still have the relic?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Can you still open the door?"

"I don't know. I haven't tried since we all left that place." Cyber said, followed by a heavy sigh. "And I don't know if I ever want to go back. Thinking of what it must be now for those who didn't get out in time. For the people I couldn't save..."

"But you saved most of them, and that's what she was trying to tell you. Even if she died, she knew you would save almost everyone at the cost of a few lives."

"How the hell do you know?" he asked with a fierce tone.

"Because I'm not blind."


	13. Dawn Brings Revenge

The way she breathed was nearly perfect. Every inhale, followed delicately by her every exhale. For about the past hour he'd been watching her as she lay on top of him, just breathing. He didn't find it odd or anything, it was like artwork. When you stare at artwork for a long period of time people don't consider it weird, and he applied the same principle to her body. It was like a beautiful work of art that he could take into examination bit by bit. Every inch of her skin unveiling an new, deep, and more desired image for his mind to feed off of. It was a great process, and he wished it lasted just a moment longer than it had before she woke up.

"Hey." the collie said in a half-asleep manner, but still trying to maintain a seductive tone.

"Morning." replied Blitz, his heart beginning to quicken it's pace.

"How long have you been awake?" she asked, burying her muzzle into his chest.

"I dunno, lost track." he spoke softly.

Colleen then looked over at the small digital clock that was set up on the equally small nightstand next to the bed. "One in the bloody afternoon?" she asked, a slight gasp escaping along with her realization. Then she paused, really taking in her surroundings. "Where are we?" she asked, soon followed by, "And why does my head hurt so bad?"

Blitz rolled his eyes. He should have known this kind of thing would happen when she woke up. It was probably better she didn't remember the evening though. "You did some crazy things last night while we were out, you should probably just go back to sleep." he spoke softly as to not hurt her head any more than it already did. "You know, like drinking a whole bottle of wine by yourself?"

She blushed ever so lightly, burying herself in his chest again. "I didn't do anything too stupid, did I?" she asked in a muffle.

"No, nothing _too_ stupid." Blitz said with a small chuckle.

"Good." she sighed in relief. Colleen then began to move her feet beneath the sheets of the bed, adjusting them so she could find a cooler spot than what they were laying on, being Blitz's legs. Her eyes then closed, legs collapsing a new-found position, cool and comfortable.

Blitz had the entire night to think of things while she was passed out on top of him. He didn't sleep a wink, but it was nice to have time to think. He thought of where Exile was, wondering if he was doing as well as he and Colleen were together. The last time he remembered seeing him was back when they all left the headquarters. All Blitz remembered was a fire in Exile's eyes, fueled by revenge. Exile wanted to find Hunter's killer in the worst way possible.

He remembered the husky stating to him as he left, "The next time you see me may be in casket." which had lain dormant in Blitz's memories until now. Exile never told anyone where he was going, only that he would bring justice to those who deserved it.

"Colleen," Blitz stated softly. "Where do you think Exile's gone?" he asked in a way that almost made him choke on the words. It wasn't like the subject was taboo or anything, he just didn't know how she would take it, seeing as his last words were what they were and that he had gone off searching for Hunter's killer.

She stayed quiet for a moment, soaking in the question. Her eyes became glazed as she remembered her last moments with Exile. "I promise." he had said, coming into her room where she had been sobbing all day. "I promise that no matter what it takes I'll find him for you. I'll make him pay." but even the echoes of his footsteps were enough to make her believe him.

"Dawn brings revenge..." she stated calmly, a single tear beginning to form in the corner of her eye. "And he promised me."


	14. Phase 1 Complete

DAR FUR, AFRICA – THREE MONTHS AGO

The wolf had tracked Hunter's footsteps back to a refugee camp just a few miles from where they had their encounter a few months earlier. Cyber had been tracking him ever since. He walked along the dirt road alone leaving the car he'd stolen behind after it ran out of what gas it had from his last stop a few hours ago when night fell, a gust of wind billowing in and stirring the dust around his boots. Was it monsoon season? He was almost positive that he had at least another week until the rain would begin to pour, but the sky looked as if it had other plans for him.

As he continued his walk, he could see the camp in the distance. People running about in a hurry to get their weapons and whatnot. They obviously knew he was coming, he made no attempt to hide it. He didn't have to. There was nothing they could do, and the beautiful thing about it was that they were completely oblivious to that fact. He would tear them apart so quickly that they wouldn't know what the hell hit them.

His eyes began to empty, losing all of their brilliant green color and becoming that nightmarish blank white once again. He was trying to piece together how his life would be when he got the information he would be given after all of this. He smiled. He would finally be whole again. The only obstacle he had was this team of Shepherd's prototypes.

"Where is he?" Cyber asked as he continued his slow approach. He was only met by screaming in a different tongue and weapons being pushed in his face. "I'm trying to make this easy..." the wolf said in a near whisper. Then the area dimmed, his fur became white, and the people of the small settlement had made their deaths imminent.

"Where's the God damn dog?" The wolf screamed out, thunder soon following as the sky grew darker. Cyber waited for a response. He did. He wasn't the type to just running around blowing things up and killing people without a reason to. But if they were being difficult and they were in the way of information, he would have to do what was necessary. Shepherd would never change that part of him, that was a fact. Even though all humans were worthless to the wolf, they were still alive. You see, Cyber viewed humans much as any human would view an ant or a spider.

Then the rain began to fall like all of the tears that Colleen would soon cry over the loss of the one at the end of the road. "I'm here." Hunter said sternly. He was ready to hold his ground. These people had done nothing wrong, and he would defend them to the end, no matter what. It was part of his canine loyalty. "If it's a fight you're looking for, I accept."

Cyber huffed, "You actually think it'll be a challenge?" he asked with a laugh. "The only thing you'll be challenging is death. Let's see how long you can bleed before I-"

"Not here, though." Hunter spoke up. "You leave these people out of this and we have a deal."

The wolf shook his head. "Do you realize what you're saying?" he asked, astounded at the response he had gotten out of the other canine. "You're willing to sacrifice yourself for these putrid beings?"

"Humanity may not be perfect, but what is? It's their imperfections that make everything beautiful. You forget what we are, don't you? We're experiments created by humans, right?"

"No, I'm not like you. I wasn't altered. I was born like this...I'm..."

"Not from here, are you?"

"No..."

"Or do you not remember?"

"I can't...I'm trying to get it out of him..."

"How can you be sure even he knows? He's using you, whoever he is. He doesn't know anything."

"You're wrong, prototype."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Shepherd was there when I was brought through...he knows that much. And that proves it all right."

"Shepherd? Master?"

"That's right...your precious master has it out for you, Hunter. He wants a clean slate to start with, and I'm giving it to him." The wolf would then smirk. "Have it your way, though. I suppose you can consider it your dying wish to spare the lives of these humans."

Hunter closed his eyes, trying to make sense of what his attacker had just said. He shook it off, a horrible feeling enveloping his entire being, soul and all as he spoke his next words. "Fine, let's go." He made them quick and painless as he hoped his death would be. He then turned tail and ran out to the middle of the savanna, far enough away so that no one would get hurt.

The rain pelted his fur, matting it down against his body as he turned to look on at the people he had spared with this selfless act. A smile came over his face as he realized that he had lived a decent life. He had experienced love, hate, sadness, happiness; all things that he wouldn't have had without this body that he was given. He figured he owed the humans this much. But the smile was quickly replaced by a look of disgust as the wolf appeared before him.

"Just so you know," Hunter began, "I'm not going down without a fight."

The wolf smiled. "I figured as much." Then it began.

Hunter made the first move, trying to be slick, dashing towards the wolf with a fist that met its target. He had made contact with Cyber's cheek, but it had no effect. The wolf simply stood there with a cocky look on his face, arms crossed, asking if it was his turn to move yet. Hunter's heart sank into his stomach as a blow of a knee was delivered to his chest, a loud cracking sounding on impact.

The dog grabbed a hold of his chest, catching himself on the wet ground with his free hand. "What are you after...that you would agree to help those you hate so badly?" Hunter asked as lightning flashed, thunder booming soon after.

Cyber grabbed onto Hunter's ear, pulling him to eye level from the ground. "What am I after?" he repeated, pushing his nose to Hunter's. "I'm after myself!" the wolf yelled, tossing Hunter a few feet from him with such force that it most likely broke a limb or two.

The radiant one laughed at the snapping and cracking sounds Hunter's body made as he was tossed about. "Sorry if I'm being a little rough, pup. With the lightning out it makes it much easier to hurt you...and I don't know my own strength too well just yet."

"I don't understand..." Hunter coughed out his words along with a bit of blood as he brought himself to his feet. "You can't just tell him I'm dead and let me go? I don't understand...I don't understand..." he repeated over and over.

Cyber only shook his head at the plea. "I can't do that, Hunter." The wolf put his hands on his hips as he watched the dog struggle to stay on his feet. "You're truly pathetic, you know that?"

"I'll show you...pathetic..." Hunter heaved as he sped forward again, only this time, taking a turn to the right so that he could flank the wolf. It worked. A swift kick to the side landed on Cyber, catching him off guard.

He slid a good couple feet. With a hit like that, Cyber was actually surprised he hadn't gone further. "Good hit." he said with a laugh. "It sucks that I wasn't able to see you at your peak, you probably would have been a little more of a challenge."

Hunter fell to his knees. There was no hope left for him. It was strange, but it evoked a sad laugh from his barely working lungs. "So it has to be this way?" he asked the sky as it continued its merciless storm. "This is my way out?"

"Yes." The wolf said, suddenly standing before the kneeling dog. It really was the perfect way to go by anyone's standards. No pain, just heat and a bright flash. Hunter had no idea what even hit him, all he knew was that it was warm and bright. Cyber imagined he probably thought it was his first glimpse of heaven.

Then there he lay. The hero, the loyal, the leader, the dog, the dead. Hunter. Half gone from this world due to a strange new form of weaponry that just happened to be tested where he was doing his job. Or at least that's what the report had been.

Cyber had walked away from that scene like he did with anything else. It was nothing. Just another necessary step to becoming whole again. The rain was still coming down pretty hard, and he realized that at some point in the fight he'd lost his hat. He shrugged. It was no skin off of his shoulders. "Well done New Moon. I've sent the rest of the team to investigate activity in Antarctica. This time there should be no distractions, and they're all in one place for you."

"Thanks...I'll get on it right away."

"Your ride will be waiting for you at the coordinates we discussed."

"Alright, thanks."

A sigh escaped the wolf's lips as he looked on at the plain of grass and animals. And then there was the girl. A little girl of about thirteen approached him, she was a wolf too. "Hey there." he said in a caring little voice with a smile. She was an orphan, parents were killed because they were different. Then it hit him. Had other places gotten a hold on the same technology that Shepherd had? There was no other explanation...unless they were from where he was.

"You're alone, aren't you?" he asked her, with a nod in reply. "Here." he said, offering her his hand. "What's your name?"

"I don't remember..." she said slowly.

"Well then..." he sighed, looking out in the distance. He smiled, then turned back to her. "How about we call you Rayne?" She smiled, laughing a little and rapidly nodding in approval. "Well Rayne, how about you and I take a little trip?"

Cyber felt that he and this girl had a connection. There was something about being lost that led people to one another. It was fate's way of compensating for something that they had lost. But he knew that if they were still around each other in a few years he'd need a better explanation than killing for have being here...he would tell her something comforting. He was being a good guy...fighting bio-terrorists...something like that.


	15. Departure

The recorder was left running on playback on the road. There was a blazing fire just a few feet away from it as the wolf's voice rang out into the emptiness. "...so then she gave me the key...this necklace thing that I still wear. That's the key to opening up the door between our worlds, yours and mine. You can't just go and use it any time though, it's place specific. You've gotta be up there-in the tundra. There's a secret place that only five beings have ever known of. That's where the door opens and closes...and that's why Shepherd's team found me meddling around out in Alaska. It wasn't just me though...there were others, too...but I don't even wanna think about what happened to those poor bastards..."

Gunfire soon broke the echo of Cyber's voice on the recording. It wasn't just one shot either, it was a multitude of shots coming from the same area. A building top in the countryside of Russia. The group had traveled here when they heard word of the professor being in these parts and it had only taken them about a week to find him again. They had made a pact to stop him, each one of them pledging to the other that they would make this happen. They were the sole hope of not just one, but two worlds now.

The caravan they had been riding in was lying broken down with bullet holes shot through it, blood covering one side of it as the fire began to consume it further. A large brown figure and a bunch of other smaller black figures stood on top of the roof of an airbase in the distance. Another stand off between the two groups.

"Take another step towards that plane, I dare you." the wolf snarled, pointing his gun at Shepherd as he backed up towards a plane on the other side of the roof. The only problem was that Muzzle was blocking his shot now, stepping in front of the professor to protect him fro any stray bullets that happened his way.

Shepherd huffed, "Challenge accepted, New Moon." he said with a cheeky smile as he boarded the aircraft, another one of his experiments in the cockpit. The sun was setting over the sea, a soft snow just beginning to fall over the scene as the engine started to rev up. "Look, if you make it past my guardian here, it will be impressive and I may even fight you on my own the next time I see you." he yelled over the loudness of the engine. "But until then, I bid you all adieu."

Exile growled, taking aim with his weapon as the plane started to move forward along the roof, gaining a bit of air as it began to take off over the ocean that lined the building. "Next time, nothing!" he yelled, taking a few shots at the leaving plane that were interrupted quickly by the body of the large brown beast, smashing the husky into a nearby radio tower in the blink of an eye. Rori then jumped at the monstrosity, giving it a good kick to the head before it grabbed her as well, throwing her to the ground and leaving a decent dent in the concrete of the building.

Cyber made the next move, unsheathing a combat knife that he'd been concealing inside his left boot and making a run at Muzzle with it, slashing left and then right with it to no avail. Despite his large size, Muzzle was still quite quick. A few more slashes at the creature and Cyber would back up, allowing room between the two of them so that he wasn't slammed aside like the other two had been. "You guys alright?" he asked, looking at the both of them fro the corners of his eyes, still standing guard just in case Muzzle decided to make a move.

"I think so." Exile mumbled, rubbing his head with the butt of his gun as he managed to stand up, taking off his jacket to reveal some body armor underneath of it. "Rori?" he asked, looking over at the cat who was still lying on the ground. She looked badly injured from where he was standing, but he didn't want to pay it too much attention, not now. He'd get distracted.

Unfortunately, there was no immediate answer to the question. Rori had been knocked out cold by that iron fist of Muzzle's. "Damn..." Cyber grumbled under his breath. "Rayne, can you get her out of here for me?" he asked the husky standing by. Her eyes were that familiar shade of purple as she was trying to read the creature's movements so that they could have the edge on him. "Rayne?" he asked again, noticing she was deep in concentration. "Rayne, can you hear-?"

"Duck and roll right!" she yelled, pointing to a huge brown arm that was flying towards the wolf. He did as he was instructed, just in time, too. He barely dodged that gigantic arm, rolling over near Exile with a grunt. "I can handle Rori, just give me a second here, okay?" she persisted, making her way cautiously towards the unconscious cat along the edge of the roof.

Muzzle bellowed something incoherent and barreled towards Cyber and Exile, the both of them running in opposite directions of one another to see who was being targeted. Truth be told, as long as it was one of them and not Rayne, they seemed to be alright with it. The monster had targeted Exile as his new victim, chasing him to the lower part of the roof where all of the circulation vents stuck out and were emitting steam fro the inside of the building.

"Keep him occupied over there, Exile!" Cyber shouted, making his way back around to help the dog as he jumped from one part of the roof onto the other. He had managed to get enough air out of his leap to land on Muzzle's back, securing his position with a deep stab in the mutation's right shoulder. A cruel smirk washed over the wolf's face as he saw what he'd done, trying to hold on now as the beast thrashed about in a feral like manner. "Now's your chance! Hit him!"

Exile heard the yell and the growls and screeches that followed and turned around, aiming at the creature that had once been one of his best friends. He'd gotten over the feeling of killing him. Cyber made him. He had come to the conclusion that the world couldn't be a safer place unless this happened, and now it was. A few shots rang off from his gun, putting a few bullets into Muzzle before he managed to knock Cyber off of his back. "Got him." Exile said to himself, swallowing hard once he realized that Muzzle was now looking straight into his eyes. "Comrade...I be needing the help now!" he yelled, turning around and running again as the chase resumed.

"Stay with me, Rori." Rayne whispered, taking her fallen partner and having her onto her shoulder as she slowly made her way down the set of stairs that was only a few feet away from them on the side of the roof. "I can still feel you here...you haven't given up just yet. Let's keep it that way, alright?" she said, getting no response. They were incredibly high up on this building. It had to be at least ten stories tall. Rayne didn't want to risk bringing Rori near the edge in fear that she might fall. After all, no one could survive a fall like that.

The wolf shrugged off his leather jacket quickly after standing back up on his feet. "Got me pretty good with that one." he said, looking to his left shoulder which was cut and bleeding a bit now, leaving him in nothing but a tank top on his upper body. Not the best armor in the world, but it was all he had right now and it would have to do. It wasn't like he'd gone and robbed the lab of all of its weaponry and such before he left. He soon focused in through the steam of those vents to see that giant figure tearing down after Exile. Cyber ran down a stretch of roof in order to reach them, his boots making a hard sound against the concrete before he hopped up and delivered a kick to the side of muzzle's head, sending him over the edge of the roof. Unfortunately, Muzzle had caught himself with his large claws on the side of the roofing, leaving him to dangle over the ocean's edge and the sharp spiked rocks below.

"Yeah! We got him!" Exile cheered, looking over to Cyber as he began to pant heavily. The wolf smiled back at him, giving him a thumbs up as he bent over with his paws on his knees, looking at Muzzle as he dangled there. He'd taunt him by making silly faces, thinking that if he made a sudden movement it would be the end for him. "Should I take him out with shot to head?" the husky asked as he approached the edge as well.

"Be my guest. Probably gonna take more than one shot though, those wounds fro earlier are already healing on him." Cyber said with a shrug as he turned around and walked a few steps away. Exile nodded in understanding and pointed the gun down at the creature, but before firing was taken down by that stray claw that Muzzle wasn't using to keep himself up. "Damn!" Cyber cursed, turning back around quickly to see Muzzle climbing back up over the edge. "Looks like the only way you're going down is if someone makes sure you do..." he said, trailing off at the end of his statement. The look on his face was pretty grim as he realized what needed to be done. Exile stood back up a bit wobbly, looking over at the two other beings as they stared each other in the face. "Listen up, Exile." Cyber said in a firm tone. "It's been nice knowing that there's someone else out there with the same goal as me...you know, solving this whole crazy thing we've become a part of...but it looks like the only way we're getting out of this is if I go down with this bastard here."

The dog would have interjected if Cyber let him, but he didn't. There was no time. "Look, I figured something like this might happen so I wrote Leslie a note...it's in my jacket. Take it to her before chasing Shepherd for me..." he said, looking to the husky. Now muzzle let out a roar and charged the wolf, being stopped by that shimmering metal arm of his. "Keep the girls safe...and find your friends...for all of us, alright?" he asked in a struggled voice, holding Muzzle's entire body back with just his one arm.

What was there to say? This was all happening so fast that Exile barely had time to think of a response. "Y-yes." he stated simply, still in shock and not quite sure if Cyber was serious about this or not.

"And this." The wolf said, taking his free arm and using it to take off the necklace he'd been wearing, tossing it over to Exile. "Make sure that stays safe too." Then Cyber turned his full attention to Muzzle, taking on that glowing form off his for the first time in the presence of anyone who would live to tell the tale.

"He's...a white wolf?" Exile asked himself, watching as Cyber let out a scream, running against the much larger beast until the two of them were near the edge of the building again.

"See you on the other side." the wolf spoke, creating a blinding flash of light with his body and using the energy to fling himself and Muzzle over the edge of the building and into the ocean.


	16. A Call to Arms

She had another dream the very same night that the two of them got home. In each of these dreams he kept getting closer to her. Colleen, or course, had no idea what he wanted from her. Was it her sanity? Her guilt? Her life? All of the possibilities swam in her head the next day. She'd hardly slept at all with fear that he would return to her if she did.

So the next morning she let her alarm go off, watching it as the numbers changed and the little machine let out that annoying sound. Lifting herself up in her bed, she rubbed her eyes, hopelessly looking out the window to her left. "I don't understand..." she sighed out. There was a smell in the air. The smell of cinnamon and other sweet things. It seemed to be coming from the other room, peaking her interest even more now.

Throwing on a shirt, the collie made her way into the other room, seeing Blitz at the stove doing his best to conjure up something for breakfast. With a small giggle, Colleen approached him, giving him a hug from behind. "Good morning." she said softly into his ear.

She had caught him off guard just a little, making him stutter a bit as he tried not to spill anything that he had in the frying pan. "Morning." he said in a surprised manner. "I was just starting to make you something before you head out today." he explained, motioning to the pan of nearly burned eggs he had made. "Turns out I'm not that great at cooking, though." he shrugged.

"Oh, it doesn't matter to me." Colleen said, giving Blitz a kiss on the neck before letting him go. She had decided the other night that being with him was an easier way to move on. Besides, it was better than being alone. Not to mention he treated her like a princess. She had to admit, though, she was falling for him even more than she thought she had been. Not that she minded at all. She actually felt it sort of relieving to know that she was able to have this feeling again after what had happened. Though he still haunted her dreams at night...

Blitz frowned at his failed meal, walking over to the trash can and scraping it in. "Sorry that didn't turn out right. I did make you coffee, though. Pretty sure I got that one right." he said, handing her a cup that was on the counter. That was what smelled of cinnamon. A perfect blend of cream, sugar, and the cinnamon flavoring. Just as she liked it.

Taking a small sip of the liquid, Colleen's eyes lit up, impressed that it was just as she desired. "Blitz, this is perfect!" she exclaimed, taking another sip. "Honestly, it's better than the stuff I get at the shop down the street." she said, making the big doberman blush a bit, his ears falling back as he rubbed his arm.

"Aw, it's nothing really. Just carefully blended." he said in a modest fashion, laughing a little and crossing his arms.

Colleen shook her head. "No, no. There's gotta be a secret." she insisted. "What did you add to this?"

Blitz put a paw to his chin for a moment in thought. Really there was nothing special about the simple cup of coffee, but apparently Colleen though otherwise. So with a grin the dog nodded, "Alright, alright. I mixed in a bunch of love." he said with a wink, knowing that was a terribly corny thing to say.

All she did was laugh at that one, blushing a bit as she gave him a peck on the cheek. "Well thank you. I appreciate it." she said softly with a smile. Then she began to hear something. IT started out as a faint whisper, but it was growing louder now. She shook her head, trying to brush it off at first, seeing that Blitz gave her an odd look after that.

"You alright?" he asked, placing a paw on her shoulder. Colleen closed her eyes tight, shaking her head.

She gasped in pain a bit, struggling to even set that cup of coffee back on the counter before she collapsed on the floor. "I can hear a voice, Blitz! It's...it's...Exile?" she spoke, figuring it out as she did. "Blitz, it's him! It's Exile!"

* * *

The husky shook his head at Rayne. "I don't think it's working." he sighed out, letting go of her paws and placing his own on his knees. Rayne had spent the last few days trying to find Exile's friends, seeing as they were most likely the only chance that he had at beating Shepherd now with Cyber gone. "Are you sure you've found the right person?" he asked, his voice carrying a desperate tone to it.

The wolfess opened her eyes and gave him a dry look. "I'm positive, Exile. We just have to keep trying. Keep calling out to her." she said, grabbing onto his paws as her eyes were washed over in an electric purple color. "Now, try again."

Exile stayed silent for a moment, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply. "Colleen...can you hear me?" he asked again. "I need to know where you are, Colleen. I need to know where you and Blitz both are. You two may be in grave danger...Master...Shepherd is not who we thought he was."

* * *

"What's he saying?" Blitz asked, getting down on his knees and rubbing Colleen's back. "Is he alright?"

She nodded, "Yes. Yes, he's fine." she groaned, rubbing her temples and sitting up. "He's saying something about...Shepherd...and needing to know where we are...but I don't know how to answer him."

Blitz thought for a second. How could she talk back to him if he was just talking to her through the mind? "Concentrate?" he said in a quizzical tone. "I mean, really go deep into your mind and tell him."

"Okay, okay..." the collie sighed, inhaling deeply. "Exile...Blitz and I are both in New York City. New York City." she repeated, Blitz giving a skeptical look.

* * *

"I hear her!" Exile yelled out, a smile washing over his face. "New York City! That's where they both are! It worked, Rayne!" he said happily, letting go of the wolf's paws again and giving her a big hug. "My friends are still alive!"

Rori rubbed her head, groaning a bit as she heard the happy dog's yelling from a few feet away where she had been laying unconscious for the last few hours. "My head..." she moaned, rubbing her forehead as she sat up. It only took her a few minutes to stand up and stretch out, listening in on the conversation the two canines were having. She gave a huff, looking around for the other wolf, unable to find him. "So what do we do now?" she yelled down to the other two with a smirk.

"Even more good news." Rayne said with a smile, looking over at the feline.

"We head to New York." Exile said with a grin.

Exile huffed, standing up and brushing himself off, looking over towards the sea and the building that they had come from a few hours ago. "Gonna be different without him around...that's for sure." he said softly.

"I know..." Rayne said in a whisper. Her head hanging as she spoke.

* * *

It was only a little while longer before Colleen got ready for work. Despite getting nearly no sleep, she still had to go in today whether she liked it or not. Just as she placed one of her paws on the door handle of the apartment, Blitz called to her.

"Where do you work, anyway?" he asked with a laugh. "I never really figured that out."

She shrugged. "Just at some crummy office on the other side of town. Nothing special really." she sighed. Truly she wished she could get a better job, but being a canosapien in a city filled with humans, this was about as far as she was going to get. "I'll see you when I get home, though. Alright?" she asked, giving Blitz a soft smile before a deep rumbling shook the entire building. There was a pause afterwards. A silent pause. Nothing moved. Nothing made a sound. "...the bloody hell was that?" she asked just before it happened again and a large explosion sounded off in the distance. "Blitz, what was that?" she yelled, holding onto the wall for support.

The doberman was startled as well, getting to his feet and looking out the window. There was a large plume of smoke coming form the downtown area. "Looks like something just got bombed..." he said slowly. Then another explosion sounded off, followed by another and another. "Colleen...the city's under attack."


	17. Intentions

They needed to find a way to get across the biggest obstacle that they'd ever been faced with. The ocean. It was the only thing separating Exile from protecting those who were in the way of danger. No matter the means of travel, it was going to take some time to get over the enormous body of water that was before them now. The three of them stood before the crashing waves of the cold beach on what seemed like the edge of the world. The husky would turn to look at Rayne contemplatively. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but couldn't piece his thoughts together correctly just then. He knew there was an imminent threat on the horizon and his mind was scattered in a million different places at once. "Is there plane in building still?" he asked finally, breaking the long silence that had started to haunt each of them.

"I-" the wolf began, caught off guard by the sudden conversation that had sprung up. "I'm not sure. We never checked. Things just happened so fast." With that the dog nodded, turning around and heading back towards the facility that adorned the top of the cliff that they'd come down from. The other two just stayed there and kept staring at the ocean, almost too afraid to continue on at this point. Exile, however, was much too determined to give up now. Especially not now. Not when there were countless lives at stake.

No one had exactly grasped how big this would get. Whether or not they would be able to control it was more of a question that they told themselves that they'd deal with later. Later came faster than they thought it would. Later was now, and there had to be something in their power that they could do. Anything.

Exile would open the doors of the air base easily after shooting off the padlock that rested on a chain to lock the door. Your typical sketchy Russian security system. It was dark inside, no windows being present in the building as far as he could tell. The only source of light now was the one coming from the door that he'd just entered, shadow stretched out across the floor before him. It was obviously old, you could tell. There was dust just floating about the place like it was a swamp full of mosquitoes in the summer.

Coughing a bit, Exile started to walk into the bay, those coughs echoing greatly along with the sound of his footsteps. He looked around the entrance for a moment, trying to find a light switch or something to get another source of light in the big building. He'd pan along the wall for a good two minutes before he found a large switch, flipping it the other way than it was currently sitting. It made a loud rusty metallic sound that almost made his ears bleed, but soon after the sound of a generator in the distance came to him. He'd smirk at this, looking up as the lights in the place began to flicker on, slowly revealing that there was a large bomber plane that looked like it was straight out of the 1950's sitting in the bay.

"Ladies!" he'd say at the edge of the cliff a few moments later with a big grin on his face. "I have found way of getting to U.S.A."

"And just what might that be, Exile?" Rayne asked, turning around when the dog shouted at them.

"It will take a bit of, uh, 'sprucing up', but it should get us there." he stated, rubbing his neck nervously as he thought about it. "Come, I show you." the husky said hastily, moving his paw in a gesture that suggested he wanted the other two to follow him back to the large building.

* * *

The city was a massive sprawl of people struggling for their lives. It had become a literal war zone in a matter of minutes, the threat apparently so large that the military had been called in to take action against the opposing force. Blitz and Colleen had left their apartment to get down to the ground where all the action seemed to be happening, wanting to know exactly what it was that was attacking the city so blatantly like this.

"Ladies and gentlemen..." a voice called out over a loud-speaker. It was a voice that the two canines knew much too well to mistake it for someone else. "Allow me to educate you as to what is happening here..." It was Shepherd.

"My God..." Colleen whispered to herself in disbelief. "It can't be! Blitz, do you-?" she stopped herself, looking on at the doberman as he nodded slowly, shaking his head afterwards to try and avoid the thought.

"I have grown tired of the human race and have decided to eradicate the remainder of you from this earth. You see, I feel that the humans themselves are the core to all of the evil the world has grown to know. War, disease, industrialization. All of these are harmful to not only the humans themselves, but also the earth. And I can't have you destroying my territory any longer." he spoke. It was uttered with such ease. Such finesse. So calmly. It was like he wasn't even aware of the screaming people in the streets. "So, as you may have noticed, I have created my own species, loyal as can be, who will carry out my demands and rule this new world at my side."

The two were in a state of shock after hearing that. They were unsure of what he meant exactly, but assumed that it had something to do with them. "Blitz..does he mean us?"

"Not sure. But we're going to find out." Blitz stated with a grunt as he began to walk out into the streets that were filled with cars from those who were trying their hardest to escape from Shepherd. Fortunately, it looked like the main area of the incident was farther along the way, providing a chance for the people in the area that Blitz and Colleen were in to get out of there before anything came their way.

That walk soon turned into a run as yet another explosion went off. It was closer this time. The sounds of more people screaming rang through the air, piercing whatever silence may have rested on the air for a short time. Blitz found himself turning on the switch that Colleen had nearly turned off in the past few weeks, returning to the state of mind that the military had instilled within him. He'd look back for a split second, realizing what he was doing. He was leaving her exposed and he couldn't do that. Not with how much she meant to him. "Colleen!" he called back to her, the collie stopping in mid-run a few feet behind him. "You wait here." he'd say finally, lowering his head. "You shouldn't have to fight...not like this."

"None of us should have to." she would reply in a near whisper, looking to the ground as well before her gaze shifted back to Blitz. If it was anything that she'd learned to do in the past weeks with the big doberman, it was how to read him like an open book. She knew exactly what was on his mind and gave a nod before running up to him and throwing her arms around him to pull him in close. "Just make sure you come back." Colleen said softly, her face buried in Blitz's chest.

A soft smile would run its way across the male's face as he looked down at Colleen, holding her tight as he nodded in reply. "Of course." he said in the same tone of voice as she. Their grips would loosen simultaneously before they looked into each other's eyes and stepped apart. "I...uh..." Blitz stammered, still finding it difficult to say anything to the collie.

"I love you, too." she cut in, smiling up at the other canine. "Now go. I'll be waiting for you to get back. In one piece, mind you." she added, watching as Blitz gave her a smirk, kissed her cheek and dashed off down the road of empty cars and screaming people.


End file.
